Mara Purl's third novel plunges beneath the turbulent surface of
life in a small town, and takes readers on a subterranean treasure
hunt, not just into the past, but into some of the defining
moments of childhood - a kind of scuba-trip of the psyche.
In fact, one of the most exciting moments in the series thus far,
is where main character Zack is caught in an underwater explosion,
and...but I must surface for air before I say too much.
It doesn't hurt that there's a built-in audience from her hit
radio series Milford-Haven, U.S.A. which had four and a half
million listeners on the BBC. It also doesn't hurt
that the Milford-Haven web site ((www.milfordhaven.com) is hosted
by the Family Internet which brings 1.5 million hits a week.
And if you like broadcasting museum shops, all the major ones
carry the Milford-Haven audio tapes. But now the novels have
an audience of their own, building momentum as Purl criss-crosses
the country at book signings from Richmond, Virginia to Anchorage,
Alaska, from Somerset, Kentucky to Los Angeles, California.
Purl uses environmental issues as the undertow in her complex
cross-referenced stories which roll over each other like so many
waves. Just when the water seems calm, the tide comes in
bringing with it the detritus of buried secrets and hopes which
float to the surface like long-forgotten messages in bottles.
Samantha Hugo as head of the Environmental Planning Commission
faces off with corrupt builder Jack Sawyer - but he's also
her ex-husband; Zackery Calvin falls in love with wildlife painter
Miranda Jones - but he works for an oil company. Chris
Christian has gone missing while pursuing a story about the
corporate ownership of a house under construction - but the CEO
has ties to oil interests.
Adept at conveying vivid images of her California coastal setting,
Purl also shows a special gift for vernacular expression -
transplanted Arkansan Sally O'Mally's homespun lingo flies off her
tongue faster than the grits fly off her skillet. One of the
most intriguing aspects of the novels turns out to be the journal
entries, which so far have ended each book. The fast paced
language of the main text gives way to deeply reflective
soul-searching, replete with metaphor and observation.
Indeed the title of each novel becomes the theme for each diary
segment - a kind of expansively explored poetic icon which
illuminates the preceding text, and foreshadows the next novel in
the series.
If you're searching for what to read next, and want a combination
of escapism and thought-provoking prose, your answer is Child
Secrets.
To read more about Child Secrets:
http://www.havenbooks.net/fiction-mhnovels-child.shtml
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