Blurb:
Death is what you make it. . . .
Eleanor never wanted to leave the daughter she loved so much. The overpowering urge to wander -- to search, without knowing what she sought -- drove her away. She left little Cassidy in her family's loving care. But Cassidy and the others died in an accident before Eleanor could find her way home.
Now, they are all reunited, in an afterlife where nothing is truly lost. Places once loved may be revisited, memories relived or even shared. One may be any age suitable to the mood and moment. Surely this is a place where Eleanor and her family can understand and heal. And yet, the restlessness that shaped Eleanor's life still haunts her in death. Somehow, she must solve the mystery of her life -- or none of them will be at peace.
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Bio:
Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but moved every few years throughout her childhood and adolescence. After college in California, law school inMassachusetts, and a mercifully short stint in a large San Francisco law firm, she moved to Los Angeles, where she met her now-husband, who hates L.A. They eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University.
Wyle has been a voracious and compulsive reader as long as she can remember. Do not strand this woman on a plane without reading matter! Wyle was an English and American Literature major at Stanford University, which suited her, although she has in recent years developed some doubts about whether studying literature is, for most people, a good preparation for enjoying it.
Wyle's voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.
The best way readers, to contact her is at kawyle@att.net – but to sign up for updates on new releases or the like, head to http://kawyle.wufoo.com/forms/
Karen A. Wyle
This book is set in an afterlife: what sort of afterlife, the reader may decide.
Excerpt
Cassidy stood tall and watched the
wave approaching. Fifteen was a good age for confronting the ocean. That
morning she had been five years old, playing happily in her sandbox; from sand to beach, from beach to ocean
waves, seemed a natural progression.
The wave loomed above her, glowing
turquoise and green. She dove under the crest, through the surging water, and
popped up behind the swell, bobbing in the follower waves. The water held her
and rocked her; over the hiss and roar of
the waves, she could hear the distant squawk of seagulls. All around was the
smell of seaweed and salt and sunshine.
Once, her mother had held her,
carried her, rocked her, surrounded her with love and safety. She had no idea
how long it had been, but she remembered. Remembering, she let herself slip
younger as she floated on the swells. But larger waves were coming, so she grew
again, six, ten, sixteen; then caught a wave and rode it into shore.
Her grandparents and her
great-grandmother were waiting for her. Great-Grandma was young today, slim and
blonde and straight, standing like a dancer just before the music starts.
Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Jack had chosen to be older, gray-haired, with the
comfortable look of a couple who for years have weathered each other’s moods
and followed each other’s thoughts.
Cassidy ran up the beach toward
them. She slipped to eight years old as she reached them, so Grandpa Jack could
pick her up and toss her in the air. The sun flashed in her eyes as she flew
up, and again as she fell back toward his hands. He set her down again and
flopped onto the sand, patting the space next to him. She sat, folding her legs
tailor fashion; Great-Grandma flowed gracefully down to sit on her other side.
Only Grandma Sarah remained standing, younger now, her hair in a long red
braid.
Grandpa Jack and Great-Grandma
both put their arms around her. Cassidy looked at Grandpa Jack. He was blinking
as if he had something in both his eyes. She swiveled around toward
Great-Grandma; Great-Grandma nodded toward Grandma Sarah.
Cassidy threw her head back,
looking up at Grandma Sarah and squinting in the sun. Grandma Sarah squatted
down in front of her. "Cassie, love, we have some news for you. Good,
important news."
The seabirds were calling as if
they wanted to be first with the message, whatever it was. Grandma Sarah leaned
forward to kneel in the sand, reached out and took Cassidy's hands.
"It's your mother,
sweetheart. She's coming. She'll be here soon. We'll all be seeing her
again."
Cassidy felt herself getting
smaller, small. She was two years old. She scrambled to her feet.
"Mommy!" Her own shrill voice
frightened her, and she called even louder, twisting from side to side, searching
the beach and the water. "Mommy!
MOMMY!"
Great-Grandma had slipped old,
white hair shining in the sunlight, her cheeks pink, soft wrinkles in her face,
smelling of flour. She pulled Cassidy close, crooning, "Hush, hush. It's
all right, baby. Shhhh." Cassidy
burrowed against her and breathed the comforting scent. She thought she might
feel better if she got big again, but nothing happened.
She heard Grandpa Jack speak.
"Mama, Sarah, let's go somewhere cozier." Then the sun, the waves, the seabirds were
all gone, and they were in Great-Grandma's living room. She was snuggled up next to Great-Grandma on the big shabby couch.
There were shortbread cookies on the coffee table. Grandma Sarah sat on Grandpa
Jack's lap in the big armchair, Grandpa Jack playing with Grandma Sarah's hair.
"Cassidy, honey, it's time to
be a big girl. We have more to talk about." Great-Grandma stroked her cheek, then kissed
it.
Cassidy squeezed her eyes tight.
"I'm trying. It's hard. Why is it hard?"
Grandpa Jack spoke. "Well,
baby, you were just this age when your mama left. You're remembering it so
hard, right now, that you're maybe a little stuck. Relax, honey, and know that
everything's all right. It'll come."
Cassidy took a deep breath, and
another, and another. Great-Grandma skootched away to give her room. Cassidy
opened her eyes. She was thirteen years old. She reached for a cookie.
"There, that's better, isn't
it?" Great-Grandma picked out a
cookie for herself and took a hearty bite.
"When will she be here? When can I see her?"
Grandma Sarah brought Cassidy a
glass of milk, then sat back down on Grandpa Jack's lap. "Honey, those are
two different questions. She'll be here very soon, and you can see her just a
little while after that. It's going to be —"
"Why can't I see her right away?" She didn't want to yell at Grandma Sarah, but
she felt like yelling. It was always harder to be patient at thirteen. She
slipped to twenty, but it felt wrong, too big, too grown up for a little girl
missing her mother. She slid back to ten.
"Cassie, you were so young when you got
here, only six years old. You weren't set in your ways yet — you expected to
learn new things every day, to have adventures and surprises. Coming here was
just another and bigger adventure. But it's different for older people. It's
more of a shock. We think it'd be best if Great-Grandma welcomes her first, and
explains things."
"How long will that
take?" Cassidy swallowed tears and
washed them away with a gulp of milk.
Great-Grandma moved back over and
hugged her. "Not as long as it will
feel to you. I'll bring her to see you as soon as I can."
An interesting and compelling read about the afterlife. This version of a familiar topic between people and how life would be after we passed away and that of the author would differ greatly. In a Book/ Reading group this would make an interesting topic. Karen had to spend a considerable amount of time in creating the plot line that in the beginning was confusing. But as it unfolds you get drawn into the lives of this family that all meet up in the afterlife trying to make sense of Eleanor's choices in life. The main character in the book.
Meeting each character with their unique personalities and the shiftiness between ages and places of relevance had me pondering from page one. Not sure where she was going with this. The story line strange almost as if the author did not know where to go with the many different scenarios in the book.
But with time understanding dawned and it became more explainable.
The craftiness of the story line became apparent and I could enjoy the read for what it was. Looking at the list of editors I can understand why it was necessary to have them in order to make this a thought provoking book.
I would have loved to see a better ending though, after the long search Eleanora (who at first had no idea why she could never find a resting place for herself or her child) and Jordana (with the need to have a child and leave her husband behind) taking them on different journeys making some mistakes during their lives stopping abruptly with no real conclusion. Leaving you cheated with some important information not shared.
Mateo the husband that was left behind find himself in between two women who was his wife and a daughter that was not his daughter. His confusion evident as he struggle to come to grips with the new twist in his life. But because of wisdom and age he accepted Cassidy as his own.
This is a well written book with many twists and turns and the outcome unpredictable but yet very entertaining.
Thanks Karen for the opportunity to review the book.
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New Book Release Announcement
New Book Release Announcement
The official release day is May 23rd.
Reach: a Twin-Bred novel, Volume 2
Genre: Science-Fiction
Blurb
Scientist Mara Cadell created the Twin-Bred -- pairs of fraternal twins, one human and one Tofa -- to bridge the profound and dangerous gap between the human colonists on Tofarn and the indigenous Tofa. Unexpectedly, it is the Tofa host mothers who now claim the capacity to bring peace between the two. The Twin-Bred themselves have been forced to abandon their mission and their planet, in the hope of finding a less hostile home. Only one pair remain behind, seeking to build new and separate lives with their own kind.
But Mara and the Twin-Bred should know by now that plans provide little protection. New challenges are in store for all the Twin-Bred, and for those whose lives they touch.
But Mara and the Twin-Bred should know by now that plans provide little protection. New challenges are in store for all the Twin-Bred, and for those whose lives they touch.
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