About the BookOn her twenty-first birthday, Maggie Owen receives an unusual birthday gift: a house. That same day, the house’s owner, her aunt, dies. For three years, Maggie has been fleeing her childhood demons: the deaths of her parents, estrangement from her terminally-ill aunt, and a betrayal by her best friend. But now her career on the road, following natural disasters in temporary insurance claims offices, ends abruptly as Maggie returns home to face her past. But why does the house hold a mysterious spell over her? Why does she have the persistent feeling that her aunt is haunting her? Why did her aunt lie to her about the circumstances of her parents’ deaths? Who is the ghost child that may be hanging around the house? And what’s with the guy next door who seems so hostile toward her? FOLLOWING DISASTERS is tightly woven ghost story that raises questions about legacies and their influence on our choices.
My Review
Can you take on a house's personality? That's what Maggie Owen is afraid of. Her Aunt Beth always wanted to be a mother. It was her one dream in life, until she died alone and childless. When Maggie inherits her house, she doesn't know what to do with the room full of children's clothes that will never be worn.
Obsession is a strange compulsion. In a weird way, it's what kept Aunt Beth going through her lifelong battle with lupus. She knew she couldn't have children, yet she continued to fantasize about being a mother. At first, Maggie is repulsed by her aunt's eccentricity, believing it to be nothing more than her deterioration into the role of the crazy lady in the neighborhood.
But when a tornado hits town, Maggie begins to see things differently. That one night sets into motion a series of events that she never could've anticipated happening. What follows that one natural disaster seems to be a blessing from above, bestowed on her from Aunt Beth from beyond the grave.
And I loved it. What a beautiful response to quell the fears of a niece, she regarded as the daughter she never had. Ah, if only we could all have the spirits of our loved ones looking out for us like this, the world would be a far better place.
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Following Disasters can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Prices/Formats: $9.99 ebook, $16.00 paperback
Genre: Gothic, Horror, Ghosts
Pages: 234
Release: October 1, 2016
Publisher: Outpost19
ISBN: 9781944853037
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About the AuthorFollowing Disasters is Nancy McCabe's first novel. She has also published four books of creative nonfiction, including Meeting Sophie: A Memoir or Adoption; Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge: A Journey to My Daughter's Birthplace in China; and From Little Houses to Little Women: Revisiting a Literary Childhood. She is a regular blogger for Ploughshares and has published work in Newsweek, Writers' Digest, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, Fourth Genre, and other magazines and anthologies. Her work has received a Pushcart and six times made notable lists in Houghton Mifflin Best American anthologies.
Links to connect with Nancy:
Web Site
YouTube
Goodreads
Blog
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