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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Home is Where the Heart Is

Did you ever think or feel that certain houses have personalities?  Well, of course houses reflect eras and personal tastes, but could a house be a living entity?  If you haven’t given it any thought, you will if you read Following Disasters by Nancy McCabe.  The house that Maggie-Kate inherits from her Aunt Beth, I think, is the main character.  Everything revolves around this house.

Aunt Beth was childless.  She had a big house and her dream was to fill it with children.  She had an unhealthy obsession about it.  One room was designated and decorated as a nursery.  Aunt Beth’s hobby was sewing and she not only made baby clothes for the nursery, but went on to make various clothes for an imaginary daughter, all the way up to a wedding dress.

Maggie-Kate was Aunt Beth’s niece who inherited her house.  Maggie-Kate was working as an insurance adjustor when she learned that Aunt Beth left her the house.  An insurance adjustor follows disasters, hence the novel’s title.  Also, Aunt Beth’s death was a disaster.  The reader is led to think that Maggie-Kate’s decision to live in the old house will turn into another disaster.  The house does seem to arrange Maggie-Kate’s life.  There’s a love interest in the next door neighbor.  Joe, is a helpful neighbor, both to Aunt Beth and Maggie-Kate, although at first glance the reader might judge him as another disaster.

I enjoyed the author, Nancy McCabe’s characterization.  She has a way with words.  She told the story in two voices: Aunt Beth’s and Maggie-Kate’s.  The diary entries were easy to follow.  The setting of the old house was the story.  Consciousness of the house drove the reader to keep reading.  And so I did, and I think you will too.

I was given this novel to review but not directed to write a positive review.  I am doing that on my own because I did enjoy the book.  You may purchase the book:

Prices/Formats: ebook, $16.00 paperback
Genre: 
Gothic, Horror, Ghosts
Pages: 
234
Release: 
October 1, 2016
Publisher: 
Outpost19
ISBN: 
9781944853037

Amazon buy link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944853030?&tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes and Noble buy link:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/following-disasters-nancy-mccabe/1123466844?ean=9781944853037

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1 comment:

Tribute Books said...

Faith, thanks for the review! :)

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