# The Gallery — Nancy Young, Author of Strum: A Novel
Source: https://onewillowwellness.com/books

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The Author Strum Books Praise [← One Willow Wellness](https://onewillowwellness.com/)

[Buy Strum](https://www.amazon.com/Strum-Nancy-Young-ebook/dp/B0C3QRMVVZ)

Award-Winning Author

# There are many ties that bind, and as many walls that divide.

*Strum* weaves music and deafness, race and war, love and unending time into a larger human tapestry of light and shadow — a cross-cultural tale spanning two centuries and four continents.

Discover the Novel Meet Nancy Young

✦ IPPY Silver Medal ✦ USA Best Book Finalist ✦ Six Book Awards

![Strum: A Novel by Nancy Young — book cover](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d3b581_e2f8a0672d0746f58805ae820f07c9c7~mv2.jpg)

![Nancy Young reading from Strum at a book event](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d3b581_5a0c3ac345454808b70cf9c2a0c48cb9~mv2.jpg)

30+

countries traveled

The Author

## Nancy Young

Nancy Young's writing expresses her love of nature, world travel, and multicultural understanding. Born in Taipei and raised in Pasadena, California, she studied English, French, and Chinese literature, International Affairs, Asian History, and filmmaking at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, University of Hawaii, and Melbourne University.

She has traveled extensively across the U.S. and Canada, and to more than 30 countries on three continents. She worked for many years as a nonprofit arts manager and foundation officer in Los Angeles and San Francisco before becoming an arts and cultural development consultant in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, for over 13 years. She now lives in Southern California, where she studies and practices acupuncture and Chinese and Asian herbal medicine.

Nancy authored numerous cultural development plans, arts policies, and marketing handbooks, and published a short story in the anthology *Sweet Sisters and Other Secrets* (Zonta Int'l) in 2000. In 2013, she published *Strum*, her first novel, through Inkwater Press in Portland, Oregon, and in 2018, *Strum: An Audiobook with Music* was added to Amazon. In 2023, on the 10th anniversary of its publication, a new 2nd edition of *Strum: A Novel* arrived on Kindle, Audible, paperback, and hardback.

Nancy is currently completing her second novel, *The Heart of Kala Pattar*, while working on a screenplay for a potential film or television series (*The Strum of Fate*) through VoyageMedia.

[Amazon Author Page](https://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Young/e/B00EI4M7VY) [Goodreads Profile](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7206143.Nancy_Young)

![Strum: A Novel — USA Best Book Awards Finalist edition cover](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d3b581_802ddf86a7d24fbeb45a716ef71e5632~mv2.jpg)

The Novel

## Struma novel

An intricate cross-cultural tale with warm, compassionate, and ultimately human characters who seek self-understanding and love. Imbued with the spirituality of the greatest international language — music — *Strum* gives us a glimpse into a very personal North American–European–Asian universe that reads like biography, historical fiction, romance, fairy tale, ghost story, travel guide, music appreciation text, and prayer all at once.

Bernard, a deaf young woodworker, is drawn into an old-growth forest in rural Québec. Summoned there by the spirits of his Iroquois and European great-grandparents, he witnesses a colossal 800-year-old cedar fall at his feet, and nearly loses his life salvaging a portion of the great tree to craft two guitars worthy of the music he hears.

Love is the music of our souls.

[Kindle eBook](https://www.amazon.com/Strum-Nancy-Young-ebook/dp/B0C3QRMVVZ) [Paperback](https://www.amazon.com/Strum-Nancy-Young/dp/B0C2SQ2175) [Hardback](https://www.amazon.com/Strum-Nancy-Young/dp/B0C2S9T7M5) [Audible](https://www.amazon.com/Strum/dp/B07958W6Y1) [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18128109-strum)

Honors

## Six book awards, and counting

In 2014 alone, *Strum* was honored across the world's largest independent book competition — which drew more than 5,500 entries from 50 states, 9 Canadian provinces, and 32 countries.

★

### Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY)

Silver Medal — Best Regional Fiction (Canada-East)

★

### USA Best Book Award

Finalist — Literary Fiction

★

### Library Journal SELF-e

Top Ten Most-Read Self-e Titles — #2 in Fantasy

★

### New York Book Festival

Honorable Mention — General Fiction

★

### Hollywood & San Francisco Book Festivals

Honorable Mention — General Fiction

★

### Great Northwest Book Festival

Honorable Mention — General Fiction

Praise

## What critics are saying

> "A rich, human, spiritual and magical tale of family, love, struggle and redemption — an audacious and marvelous first novel!"

— The Fairy Poet

> "A beautifully written, engrossing family epic."

Kirkus Reviews

> "Young's intense focus on the natural world provides imagery of glistening beauty."

Publishers Weekly

> "Engrossing prose and an imaginative narrative define this gorgeous, highly recommended saga."

Library Journal

> "Young's debut novel delights the reader in a mesmerizing story you can't stop reading. Definitely a page turner!"

American Library Association

The Gallery

## More from Nancy Young

![Morning Songs by Olivier Leclerc — music featured in the Strum audiobook](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d3b581_af1ad119ec5646aeb1e675d805e3cb2d~mv2.jpg)

Audiobook with Music

### Strum: An Audiobook

Narrated by Hunter McBride, featuring original guitar music — *Morning Songs* by Québec composer Olivier Leclerc.

[Listen on Audible →](https://www.amazon.com/Strum/dp/B07958W6Y1)

![The Himalayas at sunrise — setting of The Heart of Kala Pattar](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d3b581_546ef1a8a10f4bd2beeb82bf85adb9e3~mv2.jpg)

Coming Soon

### The Heart of Kala Pattar

Nancy's second novel — a journey through the Khumbu, in the shadow of Everest.

![Sweet Sisters and Other Secrets anthology cover](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d3b581_0bd43787dc02480e9ce88daad3e3576f~mv2.jpg)

Anthology · 2000

### Sweet Sisters & Other Secrets

Stories of women in the new millennium (Zonta Int'l), including "Bitter Herbs" by Nancy Young.

[Find on Amazon →](https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Secrets-Morris-Burfein-Edited/dp/0646392824)

Handbook · Australia Council

### Beat a Different Drum

A handbook for marketing cultural diversity in the arts — co-authored during Nancy's years as an arts and cultural development consultant in Australia.

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Nancy Young

The Gallery · Part of One Willow Wellness

[The Apothecary](https://onewillowwellness.com/herbs) [The Clinic](https://onewillowwellness.com/acupuncture) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/StrumANovel/) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/nancymcy/) [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7206143.Nancy_Young)

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