Making of June, The

From Publishers Weekly
Filmmaker and first-time novelist Ward transplants a shiny, young California couple to the grim, fledgling democratic Bulgarian capital of Sofia to scrutinize their wilting affections in this brave though somewhat spotty romantic saga. Through flashbacks and e-mail exchanges with friends in Los Angeles, the sad tale of 29-year-old film agent June Carver emerges: she has left her glamorous work to join Ethan, her husband of eight years, who is in Sofia to research a scholarly book on Bulgarian mores. June rashly confesses to a brief infidelity while Ethan was traveling, and he reacts by immediately taking up with Nevena, a 22-year-old Bulgarian maid he's had his eye on. June, who has never had to fend for herself, then falls for Chavdar, a suave, shady businessman (he doesn't carry a gun, but his five bodyguards do) who strong-arms her into an affair, then secures for her a new apartment and job through his mafia contacts. While Ethan and the impoverished, Muslim-born Nevena are traveling the bleak, dangerous countryside gathering research for his project and June is being lavishly feted and drugged by Chavdar, the country's economy collapses and the forces of democracy demand change. Through exemplary characters that represent the various factions, Ward offers a convincing if sometimes academic explanation of Balkan life in the late 1990s, though her core story is less satisfying. In the end, June and Ethan seem utterly ill-suited, especially after their respective unsavory choices in lovers, and their brash, plucky Americanism grates against the lusterless backdrop of Balkan severity. This novel offers a curious, original choice of setting for a love story, and Ward renders it with skill. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In 1996, June Carver, a successful young L.A. film production assistant, drops everything to follow academically gifted husband Ethan to Bulgaria, where he will work on his Ph.D. Shortly after their arrival, June transgresses, setting in motion a Dickensian tale of broken hearts, rearranged lives, and wrenchingly bad timing, all of which derails the Carvers' marriage and thrusts them into the arms of others. Ethan's new love, Nevena, a 22-year-old Bulgarian maid, comes with her own hellish vortex of tragedy. Travel journalist/filmmaker Ward adds into this mix of disastrous human relationships June's dangerous liaison with obsessive lover Chavdar, who drags her into the seamy Bulgarian Mafia power structure. Set in the roiling depths of Balkan political upheaval fueled by desperate poverty clashing with the outrageous excesses of dirty wealth, Ward's debut packs plenty of authentic wallops. Armchair readers can safely venture into this little-known part of the world while peeking into the hearts of characters seeking a balance between their flaws and their redemptive humanity. Highly recommended. Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MICopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
When June Carver leaves L.A. to live in Bulgaria, her life unravels in a series of personal setbacks and bad decisions. Aasne Vigesaa's reading weathers the trials of June's expatriate life, as well as Annie Ward's sometimes self-conscious writing style. The story, while predictable, is entertaining, and Vigesaa's accents and character embellishments improve Ward's prose, adding dimension and depth to each character. Vigesaa reads the Balkan accents fluidly, and her narration of the Bulgarian language is beautiful; in fact, her reading of the Balkan characters makes them more compelling than her portraits of the Americans. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
June Carver is married to Ethan, but Ethan is married to The Economist. At least that's how it seems to June, who works in Hollywood while Ethan traipses all over doing research or, when he is home, remains glued to CNN. She sees their move to Bulgaria for Ethan's dissertation research as a chance to reconnect. But their depressing, one-room apartment and Sofia's depressed economy don't do much to lift their spirits. Things go from bad to worse when June admits a past one-time infidelity, and Ethan's anger propels him into an affair with a local woman whom he had been pursuing even before June's confession. June ends up (somewhat unwillingly) in a relationship with a Mafia boss, and from there everything unravels completely. The chaos in June's life is mirrored by the volatile Balkan political situation. Ward creatively mixes the personal and the political; through June's story, we learn much about recent history in Eastern Europe, and we see the ubiquitousness of American pop culture. Beth Warrell
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Kirkus Reviews, starred review, April 1, 2002
Ward does a masterful job of delineating political complexities while creating characters painfully real in their imperfections and humanity.


Kirkus Reviews, starred review, April 1, 2002
Ward does a masterful job of delineating political complexes while creating characters painfully real in their imperfections and humanity.


Book Description
When June Carver made the choice to follow her husband Ethan from their sunny beachside home in Santa Monica to the Balkans, she had not realized that Bulgaria meant a one-room studio in a concrete housing block with no hot water. She'd had no idea that her real journey would be from dutiful wife to Mafia mistress, film exec to Third World journalist, sheltered and privileged American to weathered and worried global citizen. In the gray and desolate city of Sofia, she faces (with the help of many bottles of rakia) hitting the big 30, resurrecting her rocky marriage and assimilating in a post-Communist country rife with ethnic conflict and revolution just around the corner. This might be the hardest thing she has ever had to do, June thinks, until Ethan leaves her for a local girl with a tragic past and she has to do it all alone. June spent the first thirty years of her life pursuing the "American Dream"- an image of perfection that society and her family and friends led her to believe in with all her heart. It looked as if she had succeeded. Put-together and pretty, she was a rising star in her career and seemed to have a happy marriage. Away from America for the first time, June quickly learns that appearances can be deceiving. There is actually a heart-breaking beauty to the stark Balkans and her ideal marriage is really teetering on the brink of total collapse. When Ethan leaves, she is forced to stand on her own or admit defeat. Instead of returning to the blue sky and safety of Los Angeles, June vows to go it alone in the darkest corner of Europe. She learns the language, takes a job as a journalist and allows herself to be seduced by a Mafia kingpin as gorgeous as he is dangerous. She self medicates her way from the streets of Istanbul to the Greek Islands and back, hoping to find a reason to go on in the wake of what her family deems a domestic failure. Unexpectedly, June not only continues-she perseveres. Surviving her darkest hour, she re-evaluates her role in the world and resolves to make it a more meaningful one. While it means giving up Starbucks, yoga classes, sushi, satellite television and just a little bit of her sanity, June remains in the Balkans, convinced for the first time that she can make a difference-in her own life and in the lives of others.


About the Author
Annie Nigh Ward traveled extensively through Europe as a travel journalist and lived in Bulgaria for two years, working as a reporter for an English language newspaper while researching her book. She returned to Bulgaria for another year on a Fulbright Scholarship, and taught Creative Writing at the University of Sofia. She's worked on several feature films, and her short film, "Strange Habit," was an official Sundance Selection and the Grand Jury Award Winner at the Aspen Film Festival. She now lives in New York City. The Making of June is her first novel.


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A first novel, based on Ward's experience living in the Balkans during the upheavals of the late 1990s, combines two love stories: an American falls in love with a Bulgarian woman, while his wife falls in love with Bulgaria itself. June and Ethan Carver come from Los Angeles to Sofia so that Ethan can complete his doctoral thesis. Initially, 30-year-old June hates and resents the unsophisticated, uncomfortable world she's landed in and sends smart-aleck e-mails to friends and family. But her secret guilt over a brief affair back in California pushes her to stay in Sofia for Ethan's sake. Meanwhile, Ethan meets Nevena, a Bulgarian woman working as a maid for June's American friend Roxanne. When June spills the beans about her indiscretion, Ethan's sense of betrayal sends him into Nevena's arms. Nevena, however, is not your standard issue "other woman." A Muslim, she has survived rape and the murder of her parents' by Bulgarian nationalists. Despite snags caused by cultural misunderstandings, Ethan and Nevena's romance deepens. With her, Ethan becomes the loving, generous man he's unable to be with June, who, with her boundless capacity for self-destructiveness, falls into an affair with a local mafioso named Chavdar. The e-mails to and from America offer up a counterpoint to the charged energy of the growing political and economic unrest that have swept up June and Ethan. June's interest in gossip from home fades as she becomes involved in the struggles of the local Bulgarians she's befriended, particularly her aging language tutor. While an enlightened June tries to extricate herself from the increasingly dangerous liaison with Chavdar, whose acts of kindness come with a high price,Nevena's sense of responsibility to her younger sister draws her toward dangerous dealings with Chavdar's henchmen. A world and time brought vividly to life, and romantic to boot. Ward does a masterful job of delineating political complexities while creating characters painfully real in their imperfections and humanity.


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