by
Susan Clayton-Goldner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
Women's Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willowood,
Kentucky 1965 - Robin Lee Carter sets a fire that kills her rapist,
then disappears. She reinvents herself and is living a respectable
life as Catherine Henry, married to a medical school dean in Tucson,
Arizona. In 1985, when their 5-year-old son, Michael, is diagnosed
with a chemotherapy-resistant leukemia, Catherine must return to
Willowood, face her family and the 19-year-old son, a product of her
rape, she gave up for adoption. She knows her return will lead to a
murder charge, but Michael needs a bone marrow transplant. Will she
find forgiveness, and is she willing to lose everything, including
her life, to save her dying son?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
Tucson,
Arizona
1985
Catherine
Henry told her husband, Ben, many stories about her past, and to her
ever-deepening shame, not one of them was true. Though she longed to
tell him who she really was, where she’d come from and what she’d
done to escape, with each passing year the truth grew more difficult
to tell. And that made her a liar, something she’d never intended
to become.
Anxious
to finish their son’s party preparations, she bent over the kitchen
counter, putting the final touches on a sheet cake of a glitzy cowboy
on a rearing horse. To the beat of Tina Turner belting out What’s
Love Got To Do With It?,
Catherine set tiny balls of silver candy in the frosting bridle and
reins, the pointed tips of chocolate spurs on tapered boot heels.
When the garage door rumbled open, she readjusted the volume, then
checked her progress against the sketch she’d drawn on a piece of
drafting paper.
Ben
breezed in, his cowboy boots clicking against the Saltillo tile
floor. He wore a gray three-piece pinstriped suit with a
cream-colored Stetson that made him look as distinguished as a Texas
senator.
Pumpkin,
their twelve-year-old cat the color of orange marmalade, ran into the
kitchen and circled Ben’s legs. He reached down to rub the cat’s
ears, then pulled a treat from his pocket and tossed it onto the
floor. Pumpkin chased after the dime-sized nugget, batting it around
with his front paws for a few seconds before devouring it.
Ben hung
his hat on one of the horseshoe hooks beside the door. He eyed the
cake, then dropped his briefcase on the barstool. “Does our son
have any idea how awesome his mother is?” Ben stood behind her,
parted her hair and kissed the nape of her neck. “And while you
designed this masterpiece, guess what I got invited to do.”
She
turned and smiled. “Texas Two Step at the governor’s mansion?”
He
laughed, looking her straight in the eyes like he always did when
they talked. “Give a presentation on admissions and diversity to
the American Association of Medical Colleges. It will get my name out
there, put me in a better position to become a dean.”
She
raised her eyebrows, impressed. “You go, cowboy. But you do know
your butt looks much sexier in jeans. Are wives invited?”
“Absolutely.
Next spring. Cherry blossoms on Pennsylvania Avenue.” He pulled her
against him. The top of her head fit perfectly under his chin. She
nuzzled her face in his shoulder and breathed in the familiar scent
of Irish Spring soap. That a man like Ben could love her never ceased
to fill her with amazement and a silent anxiety he might discover who
she really was and disappear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Really needs to be a more star rating that just 5! This book is emotionally pulling. You want to scream, kick, cry and smile all in one. You want to to reach out and help yourself just so the mother isn't facing what she is. When this author wrote this book she diffidently knew this would be a top reader! And if you have yet, you really need to! This book pulls your from the real reality and makes you feels deep emotions and a connection with the characters. Astonishing read!
Susan
Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with
four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a
graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and
has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for
The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers
Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National
Writers' Association Novel Award twice for unpublished novels and her
poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Her
work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies
including Animals
as Teachers and Healers,
published by Ballantine Books, Our
Mothers/Ourselves,
by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The
Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade,
and New
Millennium Writings.
A collection of her poems, A
Question of Mortality
was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Prior to writing full time,
Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University
Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona.
Susan
shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her
fictional characters, and more books than one person could count.
Amazon buy link:
A
Bend In The Willow will be on sale for $0.99 on March 14th,
and will be on sale for $2.99 (regular price is $4.99) for the
remainder of the tour.
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