From New York Times Bestselling Author Eileen Goudge:
The Diary: A Novel of Mothers and Daughters

New York, NY —What if you awoke one day to find your mother could no longer communicate?  Gone forever is the opportunity to pose the questions you’d always meant to ask her. What was she like as a child? Who were her friends in high school, her boyfriends? What did she wish you knew about her? What were her hopes and dreams, her disappointments?

This is tragic dilemma that confronts Emily and Sarah Marshall in Eileen Goudge’s unforgettable novel, The Diary (Vanguard Press, April 2009 trade paperback and hardcover). After their mother suffers a massive stroke, the grown daughters discover her diary in her attic. As they read the entries penned before they were born, the sisters are shocked to learn their mother’s true love was not their father.

But is all as it seems? That’s the mystery they must unravel as their mother lies mute and near death in a nursing home. Only the pages of her diary can provide clues.

“This novel was inspired by a true story from my parents’ lives,” said Goudge, the New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Domestic Affairs and Woman in Red.“Their love story didn’t become fully known to me and my five siblings until later in our lives.  We saw them only as Mom, who took care of the house and baked the bread, and Dad, who arrived home from work each day carrying a briefcase. But later, through a secret cache of old photos and stories from friends and relatives, we learned more about them as real people, most of all about their undying passion for each other.”

Goudge, a resident of New York City, has dedicated The Diary to her parents, Jim and Mary Goudge.

In Goudge’s richly detailed journey into the past of her characters’ parents, young Elizabeth Marshall loses her heart to one man while remaining devoted to another. Finally, she must choose between the stable, loyal Bob . . . and the electrifying and unpredictable A.J.

When a suspicious fire is linked to A.J., Elizabeth is faced with the most painful decision of her life: She’s the only one who can clear his name, but to do so would ruin her reputation and cost her the love of her fiancé.

The Diary is a love story. It’s also the story of a family and the question that all adult children must ask themselves at some point. How well do you really know your parents?

Published one month before Mother’s Day, The Diary inspires women to get to know their mothers as women. To assist women in this pursuit, the author and Vanguard Press will soon launch www.BetsDiary.com, where readers will find a special Mom’s Day luncheon plan, complete with gift ideas, downloadable Mom’s Day cards and questions to pose to their moms.  In a contest to promote The Diary, one reader will win home-baked goodies from Goudge similar to those baked by the author’s mother, and a personal phone call to the winner and her mother.

The Diary will be followed in June by the trade paperback edition of Goudge’s 2008 hardcover, Domestic Affairs, “. . . the ultimate indulgence—dramatic, involving and ringing with emotional truth . . . a top-drawer author at the top of her game.” –New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs

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For a review copy of The Diary or Domestic Affairs, or to set up an interview with the author, e-mail nancy@nancyberland.com, or phone Nancy Berland on 800-308-3169.

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Eileen Goudge

A native of northern California who now lives in Manhattan, Eileen Goudge is the New York Times bestselling author of 13 novels of women’s fiction, as well as 32 young adult novels, numerous short stories and magazine articles and one cookbook.

When anyone asks Eileen where she gets her ideas, she cites a wealth of life experiences she draws on, commenting, “Not all of them were so good, but each contributed to my writing in some way.” 

At age 18, Goudge dropped out of college to get married. Two years later she was divorced, with a baby son and no means of support. She ended up briefly on welfare and stood in line for government surplus food. But Goudge was determined to make a go of it as a professional writer. Her first break came in the 1980s when she was chosen to help launch a line of teen romances, which went on to become the phenomenally successful “Sweet Valley High” series.

Goudge’s first adult novel, Garden of Lies (1986) enjoyed a combined total of 16 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, in hardcover and paperback. Her most recent work of fiction is The Diary (April 2009), the story of two adult daughters who come across their mother’s girlhood diary while cleaning out her attic and discover a shocking secret.

Married to New York City media personality Sandy Kenyon, formerly of CNN and now a correspondent for WINS and WABC-TV in the city, Goudge enjoys baking for her friends and neighbors when she isn’t writing.