Genre: Contemporary
Fantasy/Drama/Magical Realism/Native American
Description:
“Darkness dawns…
Decades ago, Maggie Brandt fled the East Coast – leaving behind her
troubled marriage, her three nearly-grown children, and her controlling
mother-in-law – and picked up the threads of her old life in her Midwestern
hometown. There, she found a measure of peace, even as she regretted leaving
her children behind.
Now, though, her ex-mother-in-law has been diagnosed with uterine
cancer, and demands that Maggie dance attendance on her while she recovers –
because, she says, there is no one else. Maggie feels she has no choice but to
drop everything and comply.
On the way, she stops on a whim at an ancient Native American
earthwork, and what she experiences there leaves her reeling. An old woman who
may – or may not – be the reincarnation of a Native American spirit charges
Maggie with nothing less than Earth’s renewal.
But first, Maggie must bind the family wounds she created in her
darkest hours – and with little more than an ancient turtle effigy as her
guide.”
Author:
“Lynne Cantwell has been writing fiction since the second grade, when
the kid who sat in front of her showed her a book he had written, and she
thought, "I could do that." The result was Susie and the Talking Doll, a picture book illustrated by the
author about a girl who owned a doll that not only could talk, but could carry
on conversations. The book had dialogue but no paragraph breaks.
Today, after a twenty-year career in broadcast journalism and a
master's degree in fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University (or perhaps
despite the master's degree), Lynne is still writing fantasy. She is also a
contributing author at Indies Unlimited.
She lives near Washington, DC.”
You can connect with Ms. Cantwell at her website or on Facebook.
Appraisal:
Ms. Cantwell’s Transcendence series
takes a different approach to the Earth’s renewal than any of her other
series thus far. It’s a chronicle for the personal journey of Maggie Brandt and
how her decisions in the past affected so many close to her. Even though those
choices were what was best for her at the time, they had negative consequences
for others.
Maggie has mixed feelings about returning to help her
ex-mother-in-law, Ruth Brandt, through her upcoming surgery. To delay her
arrival she decides to visit the Native American earthwork mounds she passes on
her way. In the Great Circle of the mound she receives a vision, from the past,
of her earning a copper turtle effigy. In her present life, Maggie happened to
find this turtle in the woods behind her house when she was a small child and
has cherished it ever since.
When leaving the earthwork she is puzzled by the vision. Then an older
woman who calls herself Granny gives her a personal prophecy, which includes a
quest she must complete to assist in the Earths renewal. Maggie is told:
Three
doors will close to you, and you will close three more of your own free will.
Then and only then, will the right door open. When that occurs, you must walk
through and quickly, because it will not stay open long…For it is only by
humanity’s renewal that the Earth itself may be renewed…
Maggie knows at this point she needs to mend fences with Ruth as well
as her own children, and their father she divorced years ago. Maggie is
completely vexed about her vision and Granny’s words. She is left with figuring
things out for herself, and this is her journey.
Ruth was never a woman who was easy to get along with. She turns out
to be just as demanding, outspoken, and as bitter as she has always been. She
is a master at manipulation, and seems to feed off discord. Maggie is met with
several obstacles and diversions along the path she must maneuver around. Old
and new family secrets are revealed, which Maggie handles with great skill. The
plot has a nice steady pace and the characters are well defined. The dialogue
was engaging and realistic as well as fitting each personality perfectly.
Maggie in
the Dark has a Women’s Fiction feel to it with a bit of Magical Realism mixed
in, thanks to Granny, Zed, and the earth mounds. I only noticed two doors
closing that Maggie closed herself. So, the story arc is incomplete at the
ending. However, I think Ms. Cantwell found a good place to stop and can’t wait
for the continuation.
FYI:
Maggie in
the Dark is the first book in Ms. Cantwell’s new fantasy series, Transcendence.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No proofing or formatting issues.
Rating:
**** Four Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 45-50,000 words
