1969: A Brief and Beautiful Trip Back by Sea Gudinski 
Historical Fiction

Take a trip down the rabbit hole without ever leaving the comfort of your living room… This is a novel in which history meets science fiction and psychedelics meet spirituality through a seamless blend of fact and fantasy. 1969: A Brief and Beautiful Trip Back is one girl’s account of her fantastic and unique experience of the hippie counterculture and how it changed her and those around her for the rest of their lives. From a run-of-the-mill existence in the ultra-conservative town of Fresno, California, formerly naïve teenager and rock devotee Rhiannon Karlson takes the trip of a lifetime after a drug dealer sells her a particularly potent and mysterious substance, sparking her unparalleled journey of soul-searching, consciousness-expansion, and unyielding search for the Truth. The rest, you may say, is history.


4 out of 5 fairies

1969: A Brief and Beautiful Trip Back is a great book, (don’t be intimidated by its length). You get drawn into Rhiannon’s world, no matter the era it currently resides in. Rhiannon is a relatable teenager, at odds with her mother, and trying to find her place in the world while following her dream. If you’ve never really been into the drug scene you may find parts of this a bit unrelatable. The overall story easily smooths over these parts however, so don’t let that stop you from diving into this awesome story!


Excerpt
 
From Woodstock: 
For the first few days after we arrived, there was no music. We passed the time  by smoking grass, strumming guitar, roaming all around that wide open space,  and greeting the newcomers as they came up the hill. From the time we awoke  to the time we returned to our slumbers, we watched them flock to the fields.  
They came in droves; by the bus-load and car-load they rode in, seated atop  vans and hanging out of RV windows in a ceaseless flow of traffic. Even by  helicopter they arrived and in every other possible fashion—all kinds of people  from everywhere, with license plates ranging from California to Maine. The  cumulative total swelled by the thousands each hour, and by mid-afternoon of  that very same day, the influx was restricted to foot traffic alone, for there was  no more space to park. The two-lane dirt road that stretched in from the highway had become a one-way street, and people just started leaving their  cars and walking. 
 Hundreds at a time they descended upon that half-finished stage, some of  them with big huge rucksacks upon their backs, others with nothing at all. They  came and spread blankets at the top of the hill, pitched tents in the woods, built  stands, and carried in wares and artwork of all kinds to be set up, shown, and  sold. That tiny little town had become a city, and just like any other city, it was  alive all of the time. It was like being in San Francisco without the buildings or  the fog; the air was fresh and clean, and there were no hassles of any kind. It  was a beautiful exhibition, and nobody was prepared for what they were  seeing. In fact, it was almost surreal to believe that it was actually happening. It  was a coalition; a revival of everything we’d ever wanted or worked for or tried  to achieve politically, socially, or otherwise. There were no fights, no violence— not even a frown, for when you walked up that hill and saw the bowl and all  those thousands, you couldn’t help but smile because you were within the  growing borders of utopia, and you knew you had just entered into Eden. 
Where to buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
 
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Other Reviews
 
 “Trust us, you’re going to want to read this one.”—The Journal NJ 
“[Rhiannon] is one of the best developed and created female protagonists that I have ever read and this is one of the best novels I have read so far this year.”—Rabia Tanveer, Readers’ Favorite (Starred Review) 

“Sea Gudinski’s new book takes a fantastic journey back to the era that  defined a generation.”—Joanne Colella, Colella Communications
“1969 is one of the most well-written, intelligent, and well-researched  books that I have ever read. If you lived through the sixties or you just  want to know what it was like, you will absolutely love this book.”— Paul Dittmer, Independent Researcher of 1969 Woodstock Festival 
“Looking up at the stars, limits simply do not exist for the creative mind  of Sea Gudinski.”—Chuck Defilippo, NYS Music Magazine 
“Plenty to groove on…”—Kirkus Reviews 
“Adventurous, soul-searching, and transcending the borders of time  and reality, 1969: A Brief & Beautiful Trip Back is a thought-provoking  saga that will keep the reader enraptured from cover to cover. Highly  recommended!”—Midwest Book Review 


About the Author: Sea Gudinski was born and raised in the small town of Holmdel, New Jersey. She has written  prolifically since the age of ten, producing six novels and one collection of poetry. 1969: A Brief and Beautiful Trip Back is her first published work. She is an avid reader and a lover of all things historical. With a wide breadth of knowledge and an unquenchable desire to learn, she has delved into several  eras in recent history with the hope of shedding some light on the issues faced in today’s world. Her  works are a delightful marriage of fact and fiction, peopled with vibrant characters, each with a unique  and meaningful story to tell. She writes with depth and passion in the hope that her work will inspire others the way other literary works have inspired her. Her essay, The Aquarian Age was recently published in Elliot Landy’s 50th Anniversary brochure, Woodstock. 
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