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The memory of an act committed when she was nineteen weaves a dark thread through Clen McClendon’s life. It is a darkness Clen ignores until the discovery of her husband’s infidelity propels her on a quest for redemption and forgiveness of her own. Her journeying is providing few answers and peace remains elusive, even during the time she spends in an abbey. But then Clen makes a decision that is both desperate and random to go to Wrangell, Alaska. There she will meet Gerrum Kirsey and learn that choices are never truly random and they always have consequences.
Former Seattle attorney Gerrum Kirsey is of the opinion that most people who end up in Alaska are running from something. Including him. And this appears to be true for the aloof woman who has come to Wrangell as the Bear Lodge’s summer cook. When Gerrum learns that Clen applied for the job from an abbey, and that the owner of the Lodge remembers her visiting years ago with a husband, he’s intrigued and determined to discover the woman behind the walls.
From the Publisher
Clen McClendon
Clen, who her mother insists on calling Michelle, is, perhaps, my favorite character in all of my novels. She’s strong, determined, bright as hell, and has no patience for fools nor tolerance for those who harm others in word or deed. She’s also vulnerable and haunted.
Writing her journey of discovery was fascinating, since her choices and her reactions were both unexpected and yet totally in character.
Gerrum Kirsey
There’s an element of magic involved in the writing of every novel, at least I’ve found that to be so. For Absence of Grace, the clearest example was when the phrase, Gerrum the Jap, suddenly rang inside my mind. That was my introduction to one of my main characters.
Growing up in Seattle, Gerrum was thought to resemble the recently defeated Japanese, and as a result was bullied and teased.
When I met Gerrum, he was in his forties, and had left a lucrative law practice and a fiancé in Seattle to explore the possibilities of a quieter life in Wrangell.
The Setting – Wrangell, Alaska
Although, I haven’t spent a lot of time in Alaska, a few days in Wrangell convinced me it was the ideal setting for this novel.
As my husband and I took a jet-boat excursion up the Stikine River, hiked to the top of Mt. Dewey with its overlook of the Zimovia Strait, and accepted an impromptu invitation to visit a tiny salmon cannery tucked into a former garage (since closed, but one we ordered from for several years) I became even more convinced of its “rightness.”
The Inspiration for Absence of Grace
In the course of our lives, we have thousands of conversations, most of which we quickly forget. I can think of only a few exchanges that have specifically stuck in my memory, and one of these, from nearly 60 years ago, inspired Clen’s dilemma in Absence of Grace. I’m still wondering what my choice would be if faced by a similar set of circumstances.
Some of the other plot threads in the novel also arose from personal experiences. Clen’s attendance at a small college in the 60s mirrored my own, and one of the secondary characters, Hailey, was inspired by my serving on a jury for a murder trial.
ASIN : B008PF62YA
Language : English
File size : 1.8 MB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 316 pages