Diane Lando

The Bentwood Creek Chronicles: Book I: the Great American Novel Diane Lando

A mountain broods on the edge of her landscape as Jane moves her 51 years to its east side. She proceeds to sort through the mirage of her life as surgeries and disease threaten to shorten her time to accomplish the task. She watches and interacts with the people in her memories and the life she needs to keep going, just to eat and find her own role on this stage. Coming of age is a never ending journey, and it's surprises are never truly known from any angle. People are born, threaten to die, as cars go over cliffs, barns blow up, horses threaten to kill. Jane's window on the world is a video screen which plays her emotions like a badly out of tune piano. And each morning dawns, until the sun finally sets. She is still here. Her pain continues. The coyotes sing, peacocks chant their clattering cry. Jane notices herself still breathing. The mountain never exhales. This book is an intriguing ride into a shared mystery, the dream we all wish to wake up from, but don't want to let go of, just yet.