Published: Aug. 15, 2011
Words: 26304 (approximate)
Language: English

Ebook short description

Comedy writer and acclaimed novelist Laurel Osterkamp has written a funny and moving novella about life, love, and politics as seen through the unique lens of Lucy Jones, a quintessential girl-next-door who is obsessed with political campaigns. Liberal, idealistic, and struggling to find her way, Lucy has an easier time believing in causes than she does in herself.

Extended description

Comedy writer and acclaimed novelist Laurel Osterkamp has written a funny and moving novella about life, love, and politics as seen through the unique lens of Lucy Jones, a quintessential girl-next-door who is obsessed with political campaigns. Liberal, idealistic, and struggling to find her way, Lucy has an easier time believing in causes than she does in herself. But in the midst of analyzing the mistakes made by past political candidates, Lucy attempts to figure out her own choices when it comes to both her private and public life. There's her high school sweetheart Jack; Monty, Jack's magnetic older brother; and her politician boyfriend, Drew. Can any of these men offer Lucy a campaign promise to believe in?

This 19,000 word novella (roughly 60 print-book pages) spans twenty years and offers six slice-of-life vignettes in the life of Lucy Jones:
--The Prom and John Bayard Anderson
--The Wedding and Gary Hart... (Read more) Comedy writer and acclaimed novelist Laurel Osterkamp has written a funny and moving novella about life, love, and politics as seen through the unique lens of Lucy Jones, a quintessential girl-next-door who is obsessed with political campaigns. Liberal, idealistic, and struggling to find her way, Lucy has an easier time believing in causes than she does in herself. But in the midst of analyzing the mistakes made by past political candidates, Lucy attempts to figure out her own choices when it comes to both her private and public life. There's her high school sweetheart Jack; Monty, Jack's magnetic older brother; and her politician boyfriend, Drew. Can any of these men offer Lucy a campaign promise to believe in?

This 19,000 word novella (roughly 60 print-book pages) spans twenty years and offers six slice-of-life vignettes in the life of Lucy Jones:
--The Prom and John Bayard Anderson
--The Wedding and Gary Hart
--The Funeral and Paul Wellstone
--The Baby Shower and Pat Schroeder
--The High School Reunion and Michele Bachmann

As a special bonus the first four chapters of Osterkamp's second full-length novel, Starring in the Movie of My Life, are included in the back.

Laurel Osterkamp was a comedy writer in Minneapolis before she began writing novels. Her first novel, Following My Toes, has been a Kindle best seller and won the 2008 Indie Excellence Award for Chick Lit. Starring in the Movie of My Life received honors in the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards for Chick Lit, and in the 2011 International Book Awards for Women's Fiction and Young Adult Lit. She currently teaches high school, and is working on a sequel to Campaign Promises.
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Tags

romance, politics, womens fiction, chick lit, intrigue, thoughtful, novella, contemporary romance, liberal, liberal politics, awardwinning author, michele bachman

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This book is free.

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Reviews

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Review by: Quentin Stewart on Nov. 01, 2011 :
Very interesting story and a quick read. Ms. Osterkamp takes important events in her life and compares them to political events that occurred and that also affected her life in some way. Her stories tell of the political problems that arise from campaigns for high office. Whether it is a candidate that turns emotional during a press conference or candidate dying that causes a campaign promise to be broken they all affected her and she has been able to show how those incidents in campaigns can be translated into her life. The novella is well written and is done in such a way as not to be overbearing but it does get its point across. Very good job.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: C Demore on Oct. 31, 2011 :
We all have experienced defining moments in life. These are the moments that we attribute to changing direction, gaining a deeper understanding, but mostly profoundly shaping who we are as individuals. Laurel Osterkamp’s novella, Campaign Promises, is just this: five deeply compelling vignettes following Lucy Jones through her most significant moments over twenty years of her life.

Beginning in high school, Lucy finds it easiest to understand her current experiences through political campaign analogies and continues to make sense of events this way as the years role on. After reading (and loving) Osterkamp’s Starring in the Movie of My Life earlier this year I knew that she writes characters who struggle with the complexity of maturing and coming into ones own. Because of this, Lucy is easily relatable as she experiences the milestones of high school, weddings, funerals, baby showers, and swings full circle back to high school reunions. This trajectory illustrates Lucy’s growth as she is finally able to compare her adult self to her naive, idealistic youth.

I enjoyed the glimpse into Lucy’s life and her ability to explain where she was at emotionally and personally through a political lens. I was also impressed with Osterkamp’s subtle slight of hand in one chapter, which made me scrabble back a few pages to realize a character in question was not who I thought they were. Although some readers might feel tricked, I enjoyed the unexpected surprise. Readers should note that Campaign Promises is liberal leaning and specifically critical of Michele Bachmann…so, fair warning if you are a Bachmann fan.

Campaign Promises is a intelligent peek into one woman’s journey into adulthood as her naivety and idealism are nurtured into mature self-awareness. At 75 eBook pages, Campaign Promises is the perfect companion for short trips, lunch hours, or an early afternoon with a cup of tea that leaves you feeling accomplished and satisfied.

Originally posted on bitchlitblog.wordpress.com
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Hannah Hummel on Oct. 26, 2011 :
I loved this book because it had a very interesting plot.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Catlin P on Oct. 22, 2011 :
This is an interesting novella that compares different phases of a woman's love life with various presidential campaigns. However, I think the characters could use some work and it seems a bit disconnected--more like little vignettes than a single story. It's an average read.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Deborah R on Oct. 20, 2011 :
Wasn't really really crazy about this one...when I finished I kind of felt like what was the point of the book?
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: brownewt on Oct. 02, 2011 :
This book was fun and interesting. I enjoy politics although this was the first fiction based in that arena that I have read. I would definitely recommend it to my friends. I am an independent but lean right on most but not all issues.

So I didn't agree with all of the politics Ms. Osterkamp was promoting or at least not all of the assumptions, but it was still an ejoyable read. You also really felt that those were Lucy's opinions. She was consistent.

Actually I thought it could've been longer and had potential for more development of characters and especially more on the lessons she is learning from the various political figures in the book. I could've easily read more. The romance part was mostly a side note so if you aren't a romance fan you would still enjoy this book.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: justmax on Sep. 26, 2011 :
This is a fun and witty novella comparing relationships to politicians. Definitely not for the Michelle Bachman fans out there but for those of us with a more liberal bent and at least a modicum of humour, this is a winning combination.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Ashley on Aug. 29, 2011 :
Laurel Osterkamp has another winner with the novella, Campaign Promises. Lucy Jones' life is defined by significant moments in politics, from her first crush to her high school reunion, and a few more big events in between. Everything relates back to particular politicians and how their stories shape Lucy's own perspective.

I'm a bit of a political junkie, and I couldn't get enough of this book. I had never thought about significant events from my own life against the backdrop of the hot political story of the day, but really, the relationship is there if you just take a moment to think about it.

This is such an interesting premise for a book. Osterkamp uses third party candidate John Bayard Anderson to talk about Lucy' lessons in integrity. Gary Hart's mistakes when it came to romance- and being overconfident are a part of some risk taking Lucy enjoys. And a certain (two shots of crazy) congresswoman-as-mean-girl is there to show how some people just never change.

I found myself looking forward to seeing how Laurel would relate political figures to the events in Lucy's life. I liked the reminder that Pat Schroeder blazed a trail in her run for presidency (and the reminder that because of her, we have the Family and Medical Leave Act. Thank you, Pat). I don't want to give away Lucy's life lesson from Pat, but I found myself going "Yep, uh-huh, I sometimes do that, too."

The last chapter had me laughing. This is the one with the (two shots of crazy) mean girl-congresswoman reference. It relays an encounter Lucy has at her high school reunion, and I found myself playing out the scene in my head. I really appreciated the references Laurel made here and found myself just wanting more stories from Lucy's life.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

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