Category Archives: News and Events

From the Drop of Heaven wins Sunny Award

Sunny Award
Sunbury Press Sunny Award

From the Drop of Heaven wins Sunny Award

Every year Sunbury Press honors the best-selling novels at each of their imprints with a Sunny Award.

“The authors and books awarded best exemplify the mission and values of Sunbury Press, Inc.  The authors are dedicated to their craft. Their books are high quality and are among the bestsellers in their category for the calendar year.”

Brown Posey Press logo

From the Drop of Heaven wins the Sunny Award for Brown Posey Press

For a full list of award Winners, click here.

Purchase any Sunny Award Winning Book during January or February from Sunbury Press and get 20% off!

Use code: 2022Sunny in the shopping cart.

Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review

Readers Favorite 5 Star Review Medallion

I am pleased to announce the Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review of the Fiction – Historical – Event/Era book “From the Drop of Heaven.”

Click here to see Juliette Godot’s page on the Reader’s Favorite website

Click here to learn more about the novel at juliettegodot.com.

Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review

Readers Favorite icon

Readers’ Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the “Best Websites for Authors” and “Honoring Excellence” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies

Review by Saifunnissa Hassam

Juliette Godot’s From the Drop of Heaven: Legends, Prejudice, and Revenge is historical fiction inspired by the author’s 16th-century French ancestors. Catherine Cathillon de la Goutte de Paradis was Godot’s thirteenth-generation grandmother. The family name “de la Goutte de Paradis” provides the title of the novel (which translates as ‘from the drop of heaven’) and refers to the beautiful Salm area in the French Vosges mountains.

Set in the town of Vacquenoux in Salm, the account centers around the Cathillon and de la Goutte de Paradis families and follows the lives of three characters through the decades. The story begins when Catherine Cathillon was a young girl from a family of farmers. Nicolas de la Goutte de Paradis’s father, Jean, was a blacksmith and the mayor of Vacquenoux. Martin was a student in Geneva when his professor was burned at the stake for sedition. He found refuge in Vacquenoux with Nicolas’s family. Martin shares the banned books he receives from Strasbourg with Nicolas. Catherine learns to read from Nicolas. Their lives unfold through the years, with a constant undercurrent of danger from religious and political turmoil.

I enjoyed From the Drop of Heaven for its compelling characters, particularly Catherine Cathillon, Nicolas de la Goutte de Paradis, and Martin. I became immersed in the tangled web of their storylines from the outset. I liked the different backgrounds of the three major characters. Catherine is from a farming family, Nicolas becomes a silversmith, while Martin manages the Vacquenoux stables. I loved their character development, their inner journeys, and the drama of interactions within families and with other characters.

I loved the interwoven narrative of how books draw them together. Catherine’s inner journey was the most profound, from her early days on the farm to her incredible courage when faced with persecution. Martin’s character comes into its own in the latter part of the novel when the Cathillon and de la Goutte de Paradis families face unexpected struggles for survival. I loved the rich evocative descriptions of Vacquenoux, its La Grande-Courty river, and the valley of Lac de la Maix. Juliette Godot’s book is gripping, with memorable characters, life in 16th-century France, unflinching courage, resilience, and hope.

Book of the Year Awards

Honorable Mention Book of the Year Awards

Back in October, I received the 5-Star Highly Recommended Award of Excellence from the Historical Fiction Company. This honor automatically advanced From the Drop of Heaven into the Book of the Year Awards.

This is an excerpt of my 5-Star review from the Historical Fiction Company.

HFC 5Star Highly Recommended Award

“For lovers of rich, immersive history wrapped in a captivating and heartbreaking story, this book grabs hold from the very beginning and refuses to release until the very last word. Juliette Godot is a master storyteller, taking her own astounding family history and offering the reader a beautifully crafted tale worthy of ten stars!”

Reedsy, one of the largest author support networks in the world, recommended The Historical Fiction Club’s Book of the Year contest as one of the top writing contest for 2022.

Reedsy Recommended Contest
HFC Longlisted

I don’t know how many hundreds of people entered their books in the Book of the Year Awards. Simply making it into the contest was a great honor, but then, my book advanced into the semi-finals!

That I did not win the Book of the Year did not surprise me, but getting into the semi-finals and then winning the Honorable Mention did!

It’s hard to believe that my debut novel was considered among the best books of 2022. I have to pinch myself whenever I think about it.

Honorable Mention