Novel "Hope Always Rises" from award-winner Kathie Giorgio Explores the Complexities of Suicide

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Feb. 28, 2023 - PRLog -- In Heaven, there is a special gated community for those who end their lives by suicide. This comes as a complete surprise to Hope, a 43-year-old woman, who ends her life one morning on the banks of the Fox River in Wisconsin.

In Hope Always Rises, the title character Hope has dealt with deep sadness throughout her entire life. From childhood on, she visited therapists, doctors, and alternative medicine practitioners, to no avail. Finally, Hope leaves the earth, also leaving behind her two teenage children and her husband. In Heaven, God tells her that he knows what caused the sadness, but he is not ready to tell her yet. First Hope must attend weekly group therapy session, a requirement in this new community, led by someone who also committed suicide. Hope's first group is led by none other than Virginia Woolf.

Kathie Giorgio's seventh novel, Hope Always Rises has many moments of humor and uplifting realizations. Hope meets new friends, who help her restore her forgotten artistic talent and passion, and God himself, who is amazingly human in the most inhuman of ways. As for Hope, she does exactly what the title says: Hope Always Rises.

"I overheard a conversation where two people were talking about someone who had recently chosen to end their life," Kathie Giorgio says when describing what inspired her to write a novel tackling the topic of suicide. "The discussion went back and forth like a vitriolic tennis ball, talking about how selfish this person was, how she'd abandoned her family, how nothing could be so awful to make you take such a step. I've known several people who have chosen to end their lives. None of them were selfish. All were in great pain. And each and every one sincerely believed, in that moment, it was the right decision. So, it was time for Hope to speak up."

In addition to her novels, Kathie Giorgio is the author of two story collections, an essay collection, and three poetry chapbooks. Recognition for her work includes Pushcart Prize nominations in both fiction and poetry, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, and the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence,  Her short story "Snap Dragon" was performed on stage for the Stories On Stage series at SuTeatro theatre in Boulder, Colorado. Kathie is the director and founder of the international creative writing studio, AllWriters' Workplace & Workshop LLC.

For more information on Kathie Giorgio, visit https://www.kathiegiorgio.org. Copies of Hope Always Rises are available at all major booksellers, including amazon.com,  bookshop.org, and https://www.blackrosewriting.com/

Review copies available upon request