Title: The Man in Cabin Number Five
Author: Chrysteen Braun
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Mystery
Book Blurb:
When Annie Parker discovers her husband’s infidelity, she doesn’t let it destroy her. She packs her bags and heads to Lake Arrowhead, Ca, the mountainside town where her family used to summer. Immersing herself in the restoration of seven 1920s era cabins, Annie begins to put the pieces of her life back together. But starting over is never easy.
Alyce Murphy needs closure. When she discovers her father did not die from a heart attack, as she’s been led to believe for the last 30 years, but in a murder/suicide, she is determined to uncover the truth of his death. But when she visits the cabin where her father ended his life, Alyce has to accept she may never know the true story.
Annie is looking towards her future while Alyce needs to put the past to rest. In parallel stories, both women are drawn to the rustic mountainside cabins as they search for the missing pieces---but they soon discover that the cabins have their own stores to tell.
Excerpt:
You know how when people hear your life stories, they sometimes say, “You should write a book.” I suppose that means over the years, some of my stories must have been interesting to others, and lately, I’ve been thinking about writing that book. While I can’t always remember what I had for dinner last night, I can remember things that happened to me over my lifetime...and I’ve also been known to embellish a little here and there, so I’d be able to come up with stories to fill in any gaps.
It’s 1980 and I’ve just had my eightieth birthday, thank God, for I’m getting close. As much as I swore I hated the idea of a party, my family and friends had one for me anyway...and I ended up having the best time ever. People I hadn’t seen for years surprised me by coming, and of course, talking with them brought back a lot of old memories. Some reminded me of unpleasantness, but I recalled most with fondness.
My husband’s daughter, Sissy, had gone through my drawers of old photos, much to my dismay, for some of them could have been considered damning. She made up some poster boards showing my life at various ages. She meant well, but I couldn’t help but feel that I was a spectator at my own funeral. Plus, I absolutely hated seeing photos of myself in private, much less on public display.
Sarah had flown in from New York and when I saw her, more old memories flooded back to me; images of her slugging a young boy who constantly teased me, and me bringing her something nice to wear, and watching her change into it while my mother drove us to school.
One of my stepchildren from my first marriage was there; sweet William. He was an old man now too, only ten years younger than me, although he looked much younger. He reminded me so much of David, it shocked me when I first saw him; he had that ‘forever youthful’ look about him. I hadn’t seen him in ages and we did a lot of catching up. His brother, who had no children, and his sister, who had two, had never married and still lived in the family home, whereas William had traveled and had married twice; he lost his first wife and divorced his second. His daughter had given him three grandchildren, who were all married with families of their own.
“This is for you, Annie,” he said, handing me a clasped manila envelope. “It’s not a gift, really. Save it for a quiet time.”
I couldn’t resist feeling the contents, and then I said, “Old photos, eh?”
Suddenly I laughed.
“What?” he asked.
“Remember when I’d drive you kids somewhere, and I’d hit the brakes?” I laughed again. “We’d lurch forward and laugh our heads off. Then I’d do it again.”
“Good God,” William laughed too. “Don’t tell me you did that on purpose? You used to scare the hell out of me. I always thought you were just a terrible driver.”
“Oh, my.” I wiped tears from my eyes. “I haven’t giggled like this in years.”
“You know, Annie, those were the best years we ever had with my dad. Before you married, we never saw him.” He smiled. “And then we lost you. We were almost grown by then.”
“Oh, sweet William,” I said, taking his hands in mine. “Thank you.”
****
“What do you think?” I asked my husband about a week after my party.
“About what?” He looked at me as though I’d been talking to him about something he hadn’t heard.
“About me writing a book?” I asked, wrinkling my face in concentration. I was sitting in front of my computer losing at solitaire.
“Oh,” he finally answered. “If that’s what you want to do.”
I looked over at him while he went back to his newspaper.
“Well, that doesn’t sound too convincing,” I said.
“Annie, I think you should do whatever it is you want to.”
“Do you think my life has been that interesting?” I asked, knowing the answer I was hoping for.
“Of course I do. Just don’t put in any sex scenes. They could be embarrassing.” And he went back to his paper.
So there you have it. I’ve decided to write a book.
Now I’d have to figure out what I wanted to write about and then get started.
So I started at the beginning...or where my mind took me.
Buy Links:
What makes your featured book a must-read?
Great for fans of: Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret, Linda Holmes’s Evvie Drake Starts Over.
A touching novel charting two women’s parallel lives, tied together by mysteries, transformation, and a cabin. Kirkus’ BookLife Review
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $45 Amazon US or Amazon Canada gift card
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Runs August 9 – August 18, 2022.
Winner will be drawn on August 19, 2022.
Author Biography:
Chrysteen Braun is a California native, born and raised in Long Beach.
The mountains, where she and her husband had a second home, were the inspiration for her first three books, The Guest House Trilogy. These fictional restored cabins from the late 1920s all had their own stories to tell.
Her writing crosses genres of Women’s Fiction with relationships, and a little mystery and intrigue. She’s published articles about her field of interior design and remodeling, both for trade publications and her local newspaper.
She lives in Coto de Caza, with her husband Larry and two Siamese cats.
Contact her at chrysteenbraun@gmail.com, or www.chrysteenbraun.com
Social Media Links:
@chrysteenbraunauthor