Praise for BECAUSE I LOVED YOU

“The story is a compelling one, with Leni and Cal's relationship at its core. The two come across as fully realized characters, not just star-crossed lovers. Brown brings both the Texas and New York settings to life, and complex secondary characters, especially Foy and Hank, add to the novel's richness....a page-turning story that will keep readers invested."

—Kirkus Reviews

“What I love most about Donaldson Brown's first novel isn't the tactile reality of places and times that she so sharply renders - the harsh beauty of East Texas, New York City in the simultaneous throes of guerilla art and AIDS and financial obscenity, the tender urgency of first love - but her ability to feel so deeply into her characters that even as they make shattering mistakes we can believe along with them that their actions are exactly what they need to do in the moment, just as they convince us of who they become in consequence. “ Brown is a writer with the deepest empathy for imperfect humanity, and her people and their lasting impact on each other is so knowable it makes you ache.”

—Kate Moses, author of CAKEWALK: A MEMOIR and WINTERING: A NOVEL OF SYLVIA PLATH

“In this beautifully rendered, evocative novel Donnaldson Brown paints a portrait of star-crossed lovers, brought together by their love of horses and torn apart by tragedy and closely-guarded secrets. And yet there is an enduring power to this love that traverses decades and takes many forms, even as their lives take them in different directions. Brown brings her characters from the darkness of loss and betrayal into the light of forgiveness and ultimately peace.”

—Mary Morris, award-winning novelist, most recently of GATEWAY TO THE MOON

"Cal and Leni first fall in love with horses, then with each other, a love that not even Donnaldson Brown’s beautifully rendered East Texas landscapes can contain. Because they’ve other love, too, mathematics for Cal, art for Leni, which conflict with the expectations of their families and their town. There are other secrets, too, one of them buried so deep under their family trees that perhaps it should remain, but it can’t, not if Leni is to be free. BECAUSE I LOVE YOU is deeply affecting, swooningly romantic, hard as diamonds, too: dreams don’t always add up, and trouble can sometimes be our friend.”

—Bill Roorbach, author of LUCKY TURTLE, LIFE AMONG GIANTS, and THE REMEDY FOR LOVE

“As hard as the Texan chaparral and as encompassing as the night sky, this beautiful debut about two young lovers torn between their life’s calling and their desire for one another reads like a saddle you have to get back into, even when it breaks your heart.”

—Courtney Maum, author of THE YEAR OF THE HORSES

“Equal parts Kent Haruf and Elizabeth Wetmore, BECAUSE I LOVED YOU embodies all of the expansiveness and intimacy of a contemporary Western page-turner, and more. Starting in a small town in East Texas and traveling to the East Coast, this vivid, riveting narrative will transport you and break your heart at the same time. Readers will love Donnaldson Brown’s stunning debut.”

—S. Kirk Walsh, author of THE ELEPHANT OF BELFAST

“The characters in this deeply moving, lushly imagined novel stayed with me long after I turned the last page. A novel of passion and place, ambition and expectation, BECAUSE I LOVE YOU is a beautifully written story that speaks with equal tenderness to the wild abandon of young love and the awful heartbreak of dreams deferred. A gorgeous debut.”

—Amy Brill, author of, THE MOVEMENT OF STARS

“BECAUSE I LOVED YOU is a gorgeous book, heartbreaking and joyous, full of love and wisdom. In chiseled prose that evokes a precise sense of place and time, Brown explores the conflicting pulls of love and duty and what a life can be. The novel begins as a slow burn and grows incandescent. You won’t want to let go.”

—Alexandra Enders, author of BRIDE ISLAND

”…heartfelt, emotional, memorable, and thought-provoking....  I love Donnaldson Brown‘s writing style and the twists, turns, and suspense. Will forgiveness and understanding be possible as the secrets unravel and time passes? I highly recommend this fantastic story and hope to read other books from this author."

—Linda's Book Obsession

“A stellar debut that takes you from the rugged who is country of Texas to the New York skyline….Both the settings in the characters come to life on the page….A rich and intimate look at a heartbreaking love story of a lifetime.”

—Susan J. Ballard, Book Reviews & Book Blogger

“What a beautifully written and emotional story. I can’t believe this is a debut. A story about first love, family, ambition and finding yourself. Loved every page.”

—Books and coffee mx, Book Reviews & Book Blogger