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Denise Smith Cline's debut novel The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik (October 28, 2025, Regal House Publishing) is out in the world!
Get your copy at Regal House Publishing, your favorite indie bookstore or wherever you buy your books. Join me for a reading at Barnes and Noble at the Village District, Saturday, December 13. 2025. Happy to sign books for your holiday giving! Can't make it in December? Check out these 2026 events: Main Street Books January 15, 2026, at 6 p.m. 126 South Main Street Davidson NC Union Avenue Books February 6, 2026, at 6 p.m. 517 Union Avenue Knoxville TN Park Road Books February 25, 2026, 6 p.m. 4139 Park Road Charlotte NC. Scuppernong Books March 5, 2026, 6 p.m. 304 South Elm Street Greensboro NC. Hub City Bookshop March 19, 2026, 6 p.m. West Main Street Spartanburg SC |
Advance praise for The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik:
"[A] heart-wrenching novel set against the bleak, unforgiving backdrop of Depression-era Minnesota… that grabs not with theatrics, but with the profound dignity of its heroine…. [B]oth gentle and unflinching…this is a powerful, assured, and deeply compasssionate debut that earns its ending, offering not a facile happily-ever-after, but a hard-won and deeply satisfying measure of peace. It is, quite simply, a beautiful book."
---D.K. Marley, The Historical Fiction Company
"An exquisite, utterly absorbing story .... I lived every page through the resourceful Vesta, utterly absorbed as she struggles to make a life for herself, unable to put the book down. Wonderfully done, so rich and real."
—Stephanie Cowell, author of The Man in the Stone Cottage, Claude and Camille, The Boy in the Rain and American Book award recipient
“This novel, about two people with few options who end up together and struggle to make a life despite long odds... grabbed me with its first line and never let me go. It is one of the most vividly rendered narratives to come my way in quite a while. I became intimately involved in our main characters’ lives and found myself having to resist the urge to look ahead and see if they worked out as I hoped. Cline has her own voice, but the novel reminded me at times of the work of two other great North Carolina writers, Lee Smith and Ron Rash. I could give no higher praise.”
___Steve Yarbrough, author of Stay Gone Days, The Unmade World, and The Realm of Last Chances.
[A] lovely, unputdownable novel of resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship. Set during the Depression Era, it’s the story of two strong-hearted people, bent but not broken by poverty and loss. ... Beautifully written and emotionally compelling, this novel will have readers impressed by Vesta’s leap of faith and by the healing power of simple compassion."
—Susan Coventry, author of The Queen's Daughter and Till Taught by Pain.
"Vesta Blonik is used to making do with the scraps others toss her. But when her father gives up the family farm without providing for her, she finds the courage to fashion those scraps into a life. As I witnessed Vesta use integrity, steadiness and compassion to overcome poverty, duplicity and discrimination, I found myself cheering out loud. Cline has created a heroine we can all root for."
–Heather Newton, author of Under the Mercy Trees
“
"[A] heart-wrenching novel set against the bleak, unforgiving backdrop of Depression-era Minnesota… that grabs not with theatrics, but with the profound dignity of its heroine…. [B]oth gentle and unflinching…this is a powerful, assured, and deeply compasssionate debut that earns its ending, offering not a facile happily-ever-after, but a hard-won and deeply satisfying measure of peace. It is, quite simply, a beautiful book."
---D.K. Marley, The Historical Fiction Company
"An exquisite, utterly absorbing story .... I lived every page through the resourceful Vesta, utterly absorbed as she struggles to make a life for herself, unable to put the book down. Wonderfully done, so rich and real."
—Stephanie Cowell, author of The Man in the Stone Cottage, Claude and Camille, The Boy in the Rain and American Book award recipient
“This novel, about two people with few options who end up together and struggle to make a life despite long odds... grabbed me with its first line and never let me go. It is one of the most vividly rendered narratives to come my way in quite a while. I became intimately involved in our main characters’ lives and found myself having to resist the urge to look ahead and see if they worked out as I hoped. Cline has her own voice, but the novel reminded me at times of the work of two other great North Carolina writers, Lee Smith and Ron Rash. I could give no higher praise.”
___Steve Yarbrough, author of Stay Gone Days, The Unmade World, and The Realm of Last Chances.
[A] lovely, unputdownable novel of resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship. Set during the Depression Era, it’s the story of two strong-hearted people, bent but not broken by poverty and loss. ... Beautifully written and emotionally compelling, this novel will have readers impressed by Vesta’s leap of faith and by the healing power of simple compassion."
—Susan Coventry, author of The Queen's Daughter and Till Taught by Pain.
"Vesta Blonik is used to making do with the scraps others toss her. But when her father gives up the family farm without providing for her, she finds the courage to fashion those scraps into a life. As I witnessed Vesta use integrity, steadiness and compassion to overcome poverty, duplicity and discrimination, I found myself cheering out loud. Cline has created a heroine we can all root for."
–Heather Newton, author of Under the Mercy Trees
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