Hannover House Sets August Release for Acclaimed Debut Novel, "Boardinghouse Stew"...

Hannover House Sets August Release for Acclaimed Debut Novel, "Boardinghouse
Stew" by E.E. Smith

NEW YORK, June 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hannover House has set an August
25th release date for "Boardinghouse Stew," a semi-autobiographical novel by
Evelyn Eileen Smith about characters and incidents occurring in a Sacramento,
California boardinghouse during World War II. Inspired by the turmoil and drama
of the era, the book transports the reader into a warm and safe place in an
otherwise dangerous world, as seen through the eyes of a young girl working at
the boardinghouse.

"You can't help but love this book," said Eric Parkinson, CEO of Hannover House.
"Evelyn Smith has captured and recreated a moment in time when simple pleasures
were meaningful and our common, national goals were clear. I think it's fair to
say that she has written the literary equivalent of a Norman Rockwell painting.
This is a terrific debut novel that should earn her a loyal readership."

Mitchell Edwards of Booknotes describes the book as "an enchanting and
delightful debut. Author E.E. Smith skillfully delivers a nostalgic recollection
of enlightened and inspiring relationships during one of our nation's darker
times."

"Boardinghouse Stew" will be released in a 6 by 9-inch hardcover edition at
$24.95 suggested retail. The book is 160 pages, and the retail categories are
fiction, Americana-World War II. The title's UPC Code is 7-61450-65432-7 and the
ISBN numbers are (ISBN-13) 0-9798599-1-5 and (ISBN-10) 0-9798599-1-3.

Hannover House is a respected independent publisher founded in 1993 and acquired
in 2008 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Film Group, Inc. (Pink
Sheets:EFGU) (http://www.empirefilmgroup.com), a full-service independent film
and media distributor servicing the North American markets for theatrical,
video, television and book releases. Other top-selling book titles for the
Hannover House label include the former #1 national best-seller, "Blood, Money &
Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K." by Barr McClellan, and the Vivian Schilling
thrillers "Quietus" and "Sacred Prey."

Learn more about Empire Film Group at www.empirefilmgroup.com

SYNOPSIS:

"Times like these are about as unpredictable as boardinghouse stew!" observes
Teddy, one of the six boarders in Mrs. Mumson's seedy, down-at-heel
boardinghouse in Sacramento. It was certainly an apt description of the early
days of World War II, when no one knew what would happen next.

In June of 1943, due to an acute labor shortage caused by the evacuation of all
Japanese from the area, as well as many domestic workers preferring war work to
house work, Mrs. Mumson is forced to hire a young schoolgirl named Eileen as a
maid and cook for the summer. Through one crisis after another -- some more
comic than tragic -- the people who live in the house manage to pull together
and become a kind of family. In the center of it all is Eileen, narrating their
stories which she is able to observe from her unique vantage point behind the
swinging kitchen door that never quite closes on its rusty hinges.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Evelyn Eileen Smith (aka "E.E. Smith") resides in the San Francisco Bay area and
is an acclaimed and award-winning playwright of more than a dozen plays. Her
debut novel, "Boardinghouse Stew," was inspired by her own real-life experiences
working in a Boardinghouse in Sacramento during World War II.

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CONTACT: Hannover House
Eric Parkinson
818-481-5277
HannoverHouse@aol.com