Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong?
My books are about the lives of “ordinary women” and most of us have experienced the sense of not belonging. Maybe we move to other towns. Maybe we get divorced and don’t belong to a group of friends anymore. Maybe we change jobs. Maybe we have babies and don’t belong to a group who can party all night.
In 1984, I married Charley Walters and moved with my two young children to Nantucket. It was very different then, especially for children. The school had one sport: football. There was no indoor swimming pool, ice rink, or drama program. The year-rounders were a tight group and I spent most of my days alone, writing, shopping for groceries, helping my son and daughter with homework, cleaning our four-story 1840’s house.
I’d had three novels published and was working on my fourth. My mother-in-law lived one block away and was all about pearls and propriety. I wrote about divorced mothers and had long crazy hair.
My short story, “The Fog”, was published in the 1987 premiere issue of the Nantucket Journal, and it’s an oddly quiet, even sad, story. Later on, I’ll be sharing some of my early short stories. Then you’ll understand.
Belonging came out in 1995, after I’d had three more novels published. By then, I almost felt I belonged on this faraway island. I had met artist, crafter, and writer Leslie Linsley. Leslie lives at the end of the street I live on! She’s my age and beautiful and wise and smart and talented. And SO funny! She’s busy and lives in Key West sometimes, but when we accidentally run into each other, we can cover the most important topics so fast and laugh while we’re doing in. Thank you, Fate!
Leslie is always in her studio, but she took the time to read Belonging and to give it this sensational blurb.
BELONGING is about friendship, and it’s also about an old mansion overlooking the sea and two handsome men who come to work on it, and a treasure they find, and the pleasure of finding love. It’s a nice, long, curl up and read kind of book.
You can get it as an ereader or an audiobook.
By the way, there’s a rumor that in the 1700’s, Kezia Coffin built a secret passage from her house to the shore—a “smuggling hole”. Nantucket has always had clever women with great ideas!
Happy reading!
Belonging
This spellbinding novel tells the fascinating story of a beautiful and successful woman who appears to have it all—but gives it all up to find real happiness.