Those People Behind Us by Mary Camarillo
It's the summer of 2017 in Wellington Beach, California, a suburban coastal town increasingly divided by politics, protests, and escalating housing prices - divisions that change the lives of five neighbors. Each character confronts death, betrayal, financial decline, and loneliness as they search for home and community in a neighborhood where no one can agree who belongs. Real estate agent Lisa Kensington juggles her job, her shopaholic husband, a mother who knows how to push her buttons, and teenagers with ideas of their own. Ray Gorman, a haunted Vietnam vet, lives with and cares for his aging mother. Keith Nelson, an ex-con, lives in his car, parked near his parents' house. Sixteen-year-old Josh Kowalski works through the shock of his father's abandonment by slamming on a drum set. Jeannette Larsen, an aerobics teacher numbed by horrific tragedy, turns away from her husband and toward reckless behavior. In the end, they all discover that despite their differences, they are more connected than any of them would have imagined.
“Fans of Liane Moriarty will savor the raw suspense and mystery Camarillo has skillfully wovenJuxtaposed against the bright and sunny Southern California sky, this multigenerational tale takes a deep dive into the minds and motivations of a seemingly harmless neighborhood as it strips back each dark and complicated layer, piece by piece.”
— Suzanne Simonetti, USA Today best-selling author of The Sound of Wings
“Thoughtful and riveting. In Those People Behind Us, Mary Camarillo trains an astute yet empathetic eye on the residents of one Southern California planned community in the year 2017, dissecting the mental and emotional cracks in our foundation at the brink of the Trump era.”
—Shelley Blanton-Stroud, author of Copy Boy and Tom Boy
“Peyton Place with a twist of Trump.”
—Eduardo Santiago, author of Tomorrow They Will Kiss and Midnight Rhumba
“A fascinating and perceptive read about growth, acceptance, and understanding people different than yourself.”
—Diana Wagman, author of Spontaneous and Extraordinary October
“As skillfully as Elizabeth Strout and Susan Straight, Mary Camarillo captures her diverse beach town community with such precision you feel you are eavesdropping on real people’s lives, with all their dreams and disappointments, faults, and frailties. Though Camarillo touches on hot topics such as homelessness, low-income housing, racism, and political differences, she lets her characters express their differing views and leaves it to her readers to draw their own conclusions. What I liked most about this beautifully crafted novel was the ultimate truth woven throughout—that despite our differences, most of us are more alike than we are different.”
—Debra Thomas, author of Luz: A Novel
“With vivid and colorful descriptions, Ann Marie Jackson renders a vibrant literary canvas that transports the reader to the enchanting land of Mexico’s treasured San Miguel de Allende. While there, we witness the transformation of a woman who, surrounded by the strength of her close friends and community—as well as through her own focused determination—is able to rise above the pain of a broken marriage and restore her spirit to what it once was.”
—Jessica Winters Mireles, author of Lost in Oaxaca
“A town that could be anywhere in America.”
—Leslie A. Rasmussen, author of After Happily Ever After and The Stories We Cannot Tell
— Suzanne Simonetti, USA Today best-selling author of The Sound of Wings
“Thoughtful and riveting. In Those People Behind Us, Mary Camarillo trains an astute yet empathetic eye on the residents of one Southern California planned community in the year 2017, dissecting the mental and emotional cracks in our foundation at the brink of the Trump era.”
—Shelley Blanton-Stroud, author of Copy Boy and Tom Boy
“Peyton Place with a twist of Trump.”
—Eduardo Santiago, author of Tomorrow They Will Kiss and Midnight Rhumba
“A fascinating and perceptive read about growth, acceptance, and understanding people different than yourself.”
—Diana Wagman, author of Spontaneous and Extraordinary October
“As skillfully as Elizabeth Strout and Susan Straight, Mary Camarillo captures her diverse beach town community with such precision you feel you are eavesdropping on real people’s lives, with all their dreams and disappointments, faults, and frailties. Though Camarillo touches on hot topics such as homelessness, low-income housing, racism, and political differences, she lets her characters express their differing views and leaves it to her readers to draw their own conclusions. What I liked most about this beautifully crafted novel was the ultimate truth woven throughout—that despite our differences, most of us are more alike than we are different.”
—Debra Thomas, author of Luz: A Novel
“With vivid and colorful descriptions, Ann Marie Jackson renders a vibrant literary canvas that transports the reader to the enchanting land of Mexico’s treasured San Miguel de Allende. While there, we witness the transformation of a woman who, surrounded by the strength of her close friends and community—as well as through her own focused determination—is able to rise above the pain of a broken marriage and restore her spirit to what it once was.”
—Jessica Winters Mireles, author of Lost in Oaxaca
“A town that could be anywhere in America.”
—Leslie A. Rasmussen, author of After Happily Ever After and The Stories We Cannot Tell
Camarillo, Mary: - Mary Camarillo went to work for the Postal Service after high school. It might be genetic; both her grandfathers were railway mail clerks. She sorted mail, sold stamps, balanced the books in the accounting office, went to night school to get her degree, earned her CPA, authored countless audit reports, and then started writing fiction. Her short stories and poems have been published in The Sonora Review, The Bookends Review, Lunch Ticket, and The Ear, among others. This is her first novel. She lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband, who plays ukulele, and their terrorist cat, Riley, who has his own Instagram account. She lives in Huntington Beach, California.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781647425654 |
| ISBN 10 | 1647425654 |
| Title | Those People Behind Us |
| Author | Mary Camarillo |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | She Writes Press |
| Year published | 2023-10-10 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |