from author’s website
Dolley Carlson is a third-generation Irish American with South Boston “Southie” roots. She is the daughter of one of Boston’s finest (Boston Police Department), and is passionate about weaving the people, locale, and lore of the city into her first novel, The Red Coat. For the last 20 years, she has been an inspirational speaker at events across the nation. She is author of a four-book series: Gifts From The Heart (Cook Communications), which has sold more than 90,000 copies. She has contributed to books and magazines, been a frequent guest on radio programs, and her work was featured on KTLA -TV in Los Angeles.
Dolley studied fiction writing for two years with novelist, Mary Rakow, Ph.D., The Memory Room (Perseus Books). She has taken writing courses at UC Irvine, CA, and attended workshops with novelist Lynette Brasfield, Nature Lessons (St. Martin’s Griffin), and writing teacher/author/radio host, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Pen On Fire (Harvest-Harcourt).
ABOUT THE RED COAT:
Irish domestic worker Norah King’s decision to ask her wealthy employer, Caroline Parker, for an elegant red coat the Beacon Hill matriarch has marked for donation ignites a series of events that neither woman could have fathomed.
The unlikely exchange will impact their respective daughters for generations, from the coat’s original owner, marriage-minded collegian Cordelia Parker, to the determined and spirited King sisters of South Boston, Rosemary, Kay, and Rita. As all of these young women experience the realities of life—love and loss, conflict and joy, class prejudices and unexpected prospects—the red coat reveals the distinction between cultures, generations, and landscapes in Boston during the 1940s and 50s, a time of change, challenge, and opportunity.
Meet the proud, working-class Irish and staid, upper-class Brahmins through the contrasting lives of these two families and their friends and neighbors.
See how the Parkers and the Kings each overcome sudden tragedy with resolve and triumph. And witness the profound impact of a mother’s heart on her children’s souls.
Carlson brings us front and center with her knowing weave of Celtic passion both tragic and joyful words of wisdom, romance, humor and historical events. We are in Boston feet first and loving every step. The red coat is a rich legacy from both sides of the city, Southie and the Hill.
PRAISE FOR THE RED COAT:
“The Red Coat is an inspiring tale of Irish immigrants; it is a great American story that affirms the lives and honors the sacrifices of all the immigrants who have made and continue to make this country great. “– Robert F Kennedy Junior, New York Times best-selling author
“The Red Coat is a smashing read, a sweeping look at the ever-changing fortunes of a Southie Irish family struggling in the New World but also depicting the Beacon Hill family with whom they become strangely intertwined because of a red coat. Author Dolley Carlson knows Southie as few writers do and brings that Irish enclave to life both historically and in modern times in all its tattered glory. A must read for Americans who wonder about the lives, the trials, and the triumphs their predecessors lived through. It’s all here in The Red Coat.”– Nile O’Dowd, author and founder of Irish central.com, Irish Voice newspaper, and Irish America magazine
“The Red Coat vividly captures the nuances of Irish-Catholic life in mid-twentieth century America. Reminiscent of a family-oriented Last Hurrah, the novel is full of the quirks of the Irish, wonderfully brought to life by Dolley Carlson, and extraordinarily gifted storyteller who gets hold of the reader and won’t let go.”– Dermont McAvoy, author of The 13th Apostle: A Novel of Michael Collins and the Irish Uprising
AUTHOR VISITS:
Author visits with Dolley Carlson coming soon via NovelNetwork.com.