"She stood in sun and shadow as clouds moved across the mid-day sky—rain was coming. She saw the color of the brick change from a deep ruby red to what she thought of as velvet rose, the color of her Scarlet Climbers at the edge of her garden. The shadows deepened, the rain began, and there was Julia in her head again, intuitions and all." This is so lovely, Mary. And the shifting shades you beautifully describe seem to match so well the thoughts in Evan's head.
"...like a slip of paper she couldn’t put away because the folders were jammed too close together." Love this metaphor of coping, which rings especially true these days...
The quiet, generous seduction in the lines of this chapter are utterly alluring Mary, perhaps more so because they mention the day I was born... maybe that's just me though.
The way this story is unfolding in its many filigree layers is so breathtaking, I find at the end of each I have forgotten to breathe...! x
So much vulnerability and tenderness in this chapter. The peonies, the soft spot on an infant’s head, Evan’s tentativeness as she steps closer and closer to the heart of Lena’s loss (and subsequently her own.) Ugh. It’s almost unbearable!
"Did his way of bringing her without his own arousal mean that he didn’t love her? Or did it mean he was unselfish, that he could wait..." Such a universal doubt so poetically expressed. I have played this scene in my head a thousand times, especially the line, “I’m a foolish schoolgirl in the body of a grown woman.” Oy. So riveting. xo
Oh Alisa, you are such a delight to have as a reader--and to know virtually as a friend.
My long-term hope is that the novel I am finishing will some day be ready for a read by you--but though I am not, usually, though some times a "human typo" as you often say, I am one who takes time to write words that come from my heart ... Thinking of you so often and amazed at how industrious, prolific you are ... xx ~Mary
"She stood in sun and shadow as clouds moved across the mid-day sky—rain was coming. She saw the color of the brick change from a deep ruby red to what she thought of as velvet rose, the color of her Scarlet Climbers at the edge of her garden. The shadows deepened, the rain began, and there was Julia in her head again, intuitions and all." This is so lovely, Mary. And the shifting shades you beautifully describe seem to match so well the thoughts in Evan's head.
Ah such a lovely way to comment by choosing this excerpt, Jeffrey.
"...like a slip of paper she couldn’t put away because the folders were jammed too close together." Love this metaphor of coping, which rings especially true these days...
Ah, yes, especially now.
The quiet, generous seduction in the lines of this chapter are utterly alluring Mary, perhaps more so because they mention the day I was born... maybe that's just me though.
The way this story is unfolding in its many filigree layers is so breathtaking, I find at the end of each I have forgotten to breathe...! x
Oh what a dear and lovely comment, my dear Susie, from afar!
So much vulnerability and tenderness in this chapter. The peonies, the soft spot on an infant’s head, Evan’s tentativeness as she steps closer and closer to the heart of Lena’s loss (and subsequently her own.) Ugh. It’s almost unbearable!
I feel that too--and I wrote it! Amazing how we relive what we write, don't you think?
"Did his way of bringing her without his own arousal mean that he didn’t love her? Or did it mean he was unselfish, that he could wait..." Such a universal doubt so poetically expressed. I have played this scene in my head a thousand times, especially the line, “I’m a foolish schoolgirl in the body of a grown woman.” Oy. So riveting. xo
Oh Alisa, you are such a delight to have as a reader--and to know virtually as a friend.
My long-term hope is that the novel I am finishing will some day be ready for a read by you--but though I am not, usually, though some times a "human typo" as you often say, I am one who takes time to write words that come from my heart ... Thinking of you so often and amazed at how industrious, prolific you are ... xx ~Mary
This evocative saga rolls unpredictably (at least to me) onward; I can't wait for next week 😍
Yes, Onward! Evan on the hunt?