Violet Kupersmith, author of The Frangipani Hotel, on tour March/April 2014

About The Frangipani Hotel

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (April 1, 2014)

A self-assured and stunning collection by an astonishingly gifted new writer, these stories—based on traditional Vietnamese tales—are sure to appeal to fans of Karen Russell, Jennifer Egan, Colson Whitehead, George Saunders, and Téa Obrecht. The Frangipani Hotel blends the old world and the new with fantastical, chilling, and original explorations of the ghosts that continue to haunt us: those of the Vietnam War.

“The stories shimmer with life. The heat and tumult of Vietnam’s cities are palpable, and the awed wonderment of humans confronted with supernatural occurrences is artfully conveyed. These polished stories mark Kupersmith, who is in her early 20s, as one to watch.”  –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In this impressive debut, Violet Kupersmith displays a remarkable gift for voice and setting.  Using history and horror, mystery and imagination, she has created this vivid collection of haunted and haunting stories.  Highly recommended.” –Karen Joy Fowler, bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Jane Austen Book Club

“These stories start out humbly, workaday, and would be happy to go on that way but are surprised by the entry of some unearthly demon. Then our great joy is to watch them try to carry on with their simple, daily world, in spite of the transfiguring radiance of the supernatural. Kupersmith is more than a powerful writer: she’s already been admitted into the secret circle of Isak Dinesen and Isaak Babel and Sylvia Townsend Warner: she’s a true storyteller, and a demon herself.” –George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth and author of The Caveman’s Valentine and Ravens.

“Everyone will talk about how young Violet Kupersmith is, how mature and talented beyond her years, but reading the stories of ghosts ancestral and infernal collected in Frangipani Hotel, you’ll become convinced Kupersmith, herself, is of the spirit world — transcending time, nationality, gender, and place.  Rarely does a writer of any age conjure a book so deftly funny yet deadly serious — read it, remember it, then breathlessly wait for her next one.”–Sheri Holman, author of Witches on the Road Tonight, and the national bestseller The Dress Lodger.

“The haunted world of The Frangipani Hotel teems with sensuous and exuberant life. Terror and wonder walk hand in hand. There are ghosts in the air (and in the lake), but there’s nothing insubstantial about them. These ghosts are boisterous and malign, driven by powerful passions even they don’t understand. Whether they issue from the war-torn past, the insatiable appetite of nature, or the sinister terrain of the human unconscious is anybody’s guess. One thing is certain; they’re not going away until the reader too is entirely entranced and captivated.” –Valerie Martin, author of The Ghost of the Mary Celeste, Mary Reilly, and Property, winner of the Orange Prize

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Violet Kupersmith

Violet Kupersmith was born in rural Pennsylvania in 1989 and grew up outside of Philadelphia. Her father is American and her mother is a former boat refugee from Vietnam. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College she received a yearlong Fulbright Fellowship to teach and research in the Mekong Delta. She is currently at work on her first novel.

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Violet Kupersmith’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, March 3rd:  Bibliophiliac

Tuesday, March 4th:  The Things You Can Read

Wednesday, March 5th:  Savvy Verse and Wit

Tuesday, March 11th:  The Written World

Tuesday, March 11th:  Books a la Mode – author guest post

Wednesday, March 12th:  River City Reading

Thursday, March 13th:  Under My Apple Tree

Monday, March 17th:  1330 V

Wednesday, March 19th:  Melody & Words

Monday, March 24th:  A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, March 25th:  Suko’s Notebook

Wednesday, March 26th:  Lit and Life

Thursday, March 27th:  Too Fond 

Monday, March 31st:  Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Tuesday, April 1st:  Mandy Boles: Life Between Books

Tuesday, April 1st:  Guiltless Reading – author guest post

Thursday, April 3rd:  Books and Movies

Friday, April 4th:  The Relentless Reader

Tuesday, April 8th:  Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, April 9th:  girlichef

Thursday, April 10th:  Guiltless Reading – review

Thursday, April 10th:  Guiltless Reading -guest post

Thursday, April 24th:  50 Books Project

Wednesday, April 30th:  The Lost Entwife