BOOK: Benevolent
AUTHOR: Devon Trevarrow Flaherty
GENRE: General or Literary Fiction
Published February 2013 by Owl and Zebra Press
(Indie)
PAGES: 406ISBN: 978-0-9889651-0-2
SYNOPSIS:
Gaby LeFevre is a suburban, Midwestern firecracker, growing up in
the 80s and 90s and saving the world one homeless person, centenarian, and
orphan at a time. With her crew of twin sister, Annie, smitten Mikhail, and
frenemy Mel, she’s a pamphlet-wielding humanitarian, tackling a broken world
full of heroes and heroines, villains and magical seeds, and Northwyth
stories.
Beginning with a roadkill-burying nine-year-old and a gas-leak
explosion, Benevolent follows Gaby from her formative years; through her
awakening during a soup-kitchen stampede; through high school drama; a college
career filled with an epic term paper, a building fire, and a protest-gone-bad;
to Israel, a land full of romance and mysticism. It all ends back in
metro-Detroit with a cataclysmic clash to resolve all good
intentions.
Excerpt:
Adam
loved Stellar the moment he saw her, sitting on the wheel well in the back of a
pick-up truck, skidding to a stop in his front yard. She was surrounded by
friends who were laughing, falling into one another, a halo of smoke around her
head, a large-toothed grin on her face. Her straw-blonde hair was long and wild,
her hands thin and elegant. She never even looked over at him as he jumped in
the bed of the truck and they went bouncing down the road. His eyes never left
her for more than thirty seconds.
Adam
and Stellar went to the same college, met each other with friends for meals for
awhile until suddenly and magically Stellar fell head over heels for Adam, all
waxy black curls and brown doe’s eyes and alabaster complexion and nine years
her junior. They had a tumultuous love, violent in its positive and negative
passion, in its youthfulness. Stellar threw a lamp at Adam, Adam sketched
Stellar in charcoals while she slept on his tiny dorm room bed. Stellar coaxed
Adam into a water fight in a public fountain, on a winter day. Adam plastered a
wall of his senior art exhibit with photos of Stellar’s curves: her spine, her
hips, her jaw line.
As
history repeats itself, Stellar was gravid before she was properly hitched. As
angels foretold in conversations with one another, Adam loved Stellar, fell even
more in love with her as she blossomed with the glow of new life. He insisted
they follow the pregnancy through, get married afterwards. They discussed the
future in his room, ELO trebling loudly through the wall next door.
“You
have to promise me,” Stellar was saying.
“Sure,
yeah.”
“No.
I mean really, really promise me. That you are going to marry me after.
You won’t freak out after you see her, after you have to change a crappy
diaper.”
“Yeah,
I won’t freak out after I have to change a crappy diaper. I love you, Stellar.
Let’s do this.” Adam smiled disarmingly at Stellar, and she returned his smile.
“You
have a Bible in here?” Stellar asked, getting up and shuffling around the
room.
“Um.
I think maybe. On that shelf.” He pointed. “Why?”
“We’re
going to make this as ceremonious as possible before we have this
baby.”
She
found the Bible under an incense burner, dusted it off, sat cross-legged in
front of Adam. “All right,” she held out the Bible on her upturned palms. “Lay
your right hand here.”
Adam
placed his hand solemnly on the Bible. “Look Stellar,” he said, meeting her with
his eyes. “I completely promise to marry you after Ethel is born.”
“Ethel!”
shrieked Stellar, hitting him in the upper arm with the flat of the Bible.
“Yuck. Now you have to try that again.”
“All
right. I absolutely, positively will marry you and spend all my days with
you from now until forever, no matter what. I do.”
Stellar
looked at him. “I do too.”
Then
she threw the Bible down, scooted her belly toward him, and grabbed his hand,
placed his hand on her stomach. “Now promise her. Promise on her.”
“What
makes you think it’s going to be a girl?” Adam asked.
“She
just is. Now promise.”
“Okay
then.” He looked down at the stomach he loved, for two reasons, with both his
hands placed on it. “I promise to love you more than life itself, to raise you
right, to marry your mother and make an honest woman of her.” Stellar punched
Adam on the shoulder, where a bruise was beginning to form. Then he looked at
Stellar and said, “We’ll buy a little house, before Ethel is even born. We’ll be
a great little family; the three of us.” And inside Stellar, the two little ones
swirled around with glee.
Adam
reached over to the handkerchief bedecked crate that served as a bedside table
and switched on his radio. It crooned:
“And
The Queen and her lover
Ran for cover
Holding
each other tight.
While
the tall story man
And his evil war band
Chased
down the beautiful knight.
Where
have all the heroes gone?
I
want a stately red-headed queen
to make love to angels
and wield a sure sword
And
Jaden to save the day,
Oh-oh
Jaden to save the day.”
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BIO: Devon is a writer in the Durham, North Carolina area. She is originally from metro Detroit, Michigan. She is a mommy, a wife, a hobby yogi, a photographer, painter, believer, and foodie. She has been writing seriously since her very earliest brushes with literature, and has published articles, poems, and photography in literary journals and magazines. She received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and was an assistant editor and freelance editor for ten years, during which she wrote copy for and contributed to various research materials. She has been blogging since 2008, first with The Green Notebook (now retired and not to be confused with "the green notebook") and then with RealisticChef. She is launching her lifelong dream and tackling her greatest aspiration--to be a career novelist--with the publication of Benevolent.
LINKS:
BOOK: www.benevolentthenovel.com
AUTHOR: www.devontrevarrowflaherty.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/benevolentthenovel
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Devon-Trevarrow-Flaherty/e/B00BGW61K4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1361986111&sr=8-1
TWITTER: @devtflaherty
My Review:
This was definitely a coming of age book about Gaby. Just like in real life coming of age stories at times I was sad, and at others I found myself smiling. The interactions between Gaby and her "mom" were that of any teenager. I also really enjoyed the twin plot and I had to keep reading to see where it was going. The magical elements added to the story, and were not over bearing. I love mythology and the Northwyth legends were really cool to read. I liked how the chapters were broken up, even though this book was 406 pages, and because of that it was easier to read. I do think that it was a little long for me, but the author made up for length with very good character development. This book had a little bit of everything! I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own!
Giveaway:
The author very kindly is allowing me to do a giveaway of 1 Signed copy! Enter Below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck on your writing career, Devon! jdh2690@gmail.com
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