Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women's prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people 31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.EXCERPT:
Laramie
Larkins Kruger drove up to the hospital emergency door. It was the second time in twice as many
weeks. The hand that had been holding a
bloody towel against the left side of her face somehow managed to push the car
door open. Her other hand rested in her
lap, limp and useless. A hospital
orderly standing outside by the front entrance saw her. He crushed his half-smoked cigarette into the
concrete container of sand provided and quickly located a wheelchair for her.
“Jesus,
Ms. Kruger, what have you gone done to yourself now? You been working on that old house again,
haven’t ya?”
Lara
closed her eyes and let the strong hands of the orderly gently position her
into the wheelchair. “Thanks, Ben.”
“I
told you to call me next time you needed something done and Mr. Kruger wasn’t
around to take care of it. Didn’t
I? Didn’t I say that?” He pushed her through the emergency entrance
and over to the sign-in window where an elderly woman smiled and handed her a
form.
“Back
so soon, Mrs. Kruger?”
Lara
stared at the piece of paper that had been secured to a clipboard, but her eyes
wouldn’t read the print. She couldn’t
pick up the pen anyway. Ben took the
clipboard from her and began filling in the information next to her name: Age, 31; Time, 1:15 p.m.; Insurance,
on file; Nature of Visit, cuts and bruises caused by accident. It was always the same.
Lara
and Jake had been remodeling the old Victorian home they bought when they moved
to Rocky Mount six months earlier.
Everyone knew they were doing it.
In a town the size of Rocky Mount, nothing went by unnoticed. Since they were doing a lot of the work
themselves, it was easy just to say she slipped off a ladder, a rotten
floorboard gave way, something had fallen on her – whatever. No one questioned her answers.
“My,
my. Looks like you got scraped up pretty
good, Mrs. Kruger.” The elderly
volunteer worker smiled sympathetically and took the form Ben had just filled
out. “What happened this time?”
Lara
tried not to grimace from the pain. It
felt like one of her ribs was broken. “I
yanked too hard on the door of that old shed in back we’re trying to convert
into a garage and it gave way.” The lie
came easily.
Barbara Casey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or BN.com gift card to one randomly chosen commenter.!!!
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5/21/2013 Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
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5/24/2013 My Devotional Thoughts
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6/10/2013 Read Your Writes Book Reviews
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6/12/2013 The Ink Spot
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6/14/2013 Welcome to My World of Dreams
5/21/2013 Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
5/22/2013 Margay Leah Justice
5/23/2013 It's Raining Books
5/24/2013 My Devotional Thoughts
5/27/2013 Novel Moments
5/28/2013 Christy McKee Writes for Women in the Sweet Spot of Life
5/29/2013 Tinasbookreviews
5/30/2013 Nickie's Views and Interviews
5/30/2013 SECOND STOP Fiction Writing and Other Oddities
5/31/2013 Deal Sharing Aunt
6/3/2013 The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object
6/4/2013 Illustrious Illusions
6/5/2013 Book 'Em North Carolina
6/6/2013 Hope Dreams. Life... Love
6/6/2013 SECOND STOP Stitch Read Cook
6/7/2013 Straight from the Library
6/10/2013 Read Your Writes Book Reviews
6/11/2013 4 the LUV of SANITY
6/12/2013 The Ink Spot
6/13/2013 United By Books
6/14/2013 Welcome to My World of Dreams
Thank you so much for hosting me today. I am really looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteThat's just awful. I wonder how often spouse abuse like this is brushed off as "accidents." It breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteIs that Rocky Mount in North Carolina? We have a Rocky Mount near where I live.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com
It is terrible, and it happens more than people realize. The setting for THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY takes place in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. As bad as this starts out for Lara, the story builds into something quite beautiful. Thank you for your comment Catherine.
DeleteThank you again for hosting me. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
This looks like it would be a very interesting book.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa. I recently learned that it has won an IPPY Award for Best Book in Regional Fiction. If you get a chance to read it, I would love to hear what you think of it.
DeleteIt's so sad that the lie came easily - too many times.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
It is sad, Mary. Lara was going through so much. She was trying to save her marriage because until this happened, she thought it was worth saving. The reader can get comfort from knowing that she learned from what happened, and it made her realize her inner strength that she never knew she had. She was able to move on with her life.
Delete