
The book offered a nostalgic look at rural Central Florida. When asked where the book took place, Deborah said she was describing Clermont, out by Howell Branch Road. Of course the tangelo groves she described have been replaced with strip malls and housing developments. Deborah is a big fan of the rhythmic sentence. She would go through her copy adding comas and taking them out until the sentence had just the right cadence. She isn't a songwriter herself but she does identify with Annie, the main character.
The drama escalated when Calder is accused of murder. He fell in love with a married Scandinavian woman and her husband was murdered. The number of affairs and family secrets was astonishing. I had to pick up a copy of the book and yesterday I read it cover to cover. I'm not that voracious of a reader, but I couldn't put it down. The sweet smell of citrus, the springs and an unexpected winter frost all bring Central Florida vividly alive. All of the characters made mistakes and had to live with the consequences. News of the murder brings Annie's husband, Owen back to her. But she may have been waiting for the wrong man.
Star struck, I asked Deborah to sign my sketch.
1 comment:
I recognize this scene from the book. Well done! Almost exactly as I imagined it. I enjoyed translating this novel, and it taught me a lot about Florida, which was partly due to one of the main characters being a landscaper.
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