Title: The Pendulum’s Truth
Author: Leigh Brown & Victoria Corliss
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Book Blurb:
The Pendulum’s Truth is the story of Ava Dell, a protagonist, with a twist. Like many people, Ava firmly believes that everything happens for a reason; but unlike her friends and family, she also believes she knows why they happen. She happily shares her insights with the people she loves providing them guidance and affirmations until the day her awareness fails her. When tragedy results, Ava suddenly finds herself in a moral and emotional dilemma.
Excerpt:
Everything happens for a reason.
Ava could feel Mary’s breath brushing up against her ear as she whispered the words. Goose bumps prickled both her arms and she briskly rubbed them away. It would be just like her mother to reach out to her so soon from the other side, to reassure her daughter that everything would be all right. Mary's words were not surprising; it was a mantra that her mom had lived by for as long as Ava could remember. Now, staring at Mary’s pale face and vacant eyes, Ava was comforted knowing that she had no regrets. They had been on a journey together as her mother battled cancer and Ava had been there every step of the way.
Hours earlier, the nurses had called. It was time, they said.
Pulling into the parking lot thirty minutes later, she found a space close to the entrance and hurried inside. Ava nodded to the receptionist behind the front desk and made her way to the elevators, nearly knocking over a young woman holding a wrapped sandwich and a bottle of iced tea.
“Oh, my goodness, Sara. I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.” Ava fumbled as she grabbed the young woman by the elbow.
The nurse looked up as she steadied herself. “Ava! Don’t worry about it. I was just getting some lunch to take back to the floor. I’m so sorry to hear about your mother. She was a special lady, such a fighter right until the end.”
Ava’s heart clenched. “What do you mean? Am I too late? I hurried as fast as I could.”
Sara smiled uncomfortably, confirming her fear. “I’m not sure,” she said, backpedaling. “I left a little while ago. Let’s go see what’s happening.” She gestured to the opened elevator doors. When they reached the third floor, Ava hurried toward her mother’s room. Inside, a nurse, wearing pink scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck, stood by the window. She smiled warmly at Ava as she entered. Her mother lay under the covers, looking peaceful, but Ava could tell that she had moved on to another realm.
“I opened it just in time,” the nurse said softly, motioning to the window.
Ava nodded, acknowledging the superstition that an opened window before death allowed the soul to escape from the body and enter the next life. “Thank you, Julia. That means a lot to me.”
She approached the bed and kissed her mother gently on her forehead, noting that her skin had already cooled. Julia patted her arm and pulled a chair over to the side of the bed for Ava to sit.
“Take your time,” she said. “I’ll close the door. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
Julia reached for Ava’s hand and squeezed it gently before leaving the room.
Ava turned to her mother. “Oh, Mom,” she said quietly, as tears crowded her eyelashes and threatened to fall onto her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time. I love you so much, I hope you know that.” It was then she’d heard Mary’s whisper.
Everything happens for a reason.
Ava had not always agreed with her mother’s thinking. Even now, she wasn’t entirely convinced it was true despite the countless conversations, debates really that they had had over the years about fate and destiny.
“Mom,” she’d argued, sitting in a beach chair on the hot South Carolina sand of Sully Shores where they had a family cottage. “It’s so easy to say everything happens for a reason, because that leaves the ugly parts of life in someone else’s hands. I can blame everything that doesn’t go my way on the fact that it wasn’t meant to be. I don’t ever have to be accountable. Is that what you’re saying?”
Applying more sunscreen, Mary adjusted her straw hat to shade her eyes. “No, Ava, you’re not hearing me. I’m not saying your life isn’t yours to live. You are in complete control -- your life, your decisions. But at the same time, I believe that life is full of signs; they’re everywhere, and you can recognize them. It’s a gift. Maybe it’s a coincidence or just an odd feeling you have. You know, those ‘aha’ moments when you say, ‘Oh, now I get it.’ Those moments are when we can learn so much about ourselves if we’re open to them.”
Mary took a long drink from her water bottle and continued. “And if the signs are confusing, don’t be discouraged. Life doesn’t always come neatly wrapped in a box with a bow on top. Sometimes we don’t know why things happen the way they do, but at the end of the day you just have to embrace it all. It’s all part of your journey, Ava.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Look for signs and don’t expect life to always be neat and easy. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Ava had chuckled as she shifted in her beach chair.
“Laugh all you want,” her mom scolded. “But you’ll see. The older I get, the more I’m convinced there are other forces at play. Just try to keep an open mind, Ava. Promise?”
“Okay, Mom, I promise.” Instinctively, she felt for the sea glass pendant resting lightly on her chest. The turquoise sea glass encased in silver wire was a gift from her father. She never took it off.
Years before, when her dad had died unexpectedly, Ava and her mom had clung to each other for comfort, bonded by their shared love and loss. Now Mary was gone, too, and Ava was a team of one. For how long, she wondered? Bending low, Ava clasped her mother’s hand, gently stroking the paper-thin skin. “I love you, Mom. What am I going to do without you?” Ava felt a breath pass by her ear again.
“I’m going to send you someone good.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
https://bit.ly/3Yu5o3b (Amazon)
What’s the first binge-worthy book you read and why was it a must-read?
As children, we fell in love with the Little House on The Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Reading them then was the equivalent of binge-watching television today, we couldn’t get enough!
What makes your featured book a binge-worthy read?
If you believe, as we do, that everything happens for a reason even if we don’t always understand why at the time, then you know that navigating life’s journey can be hard, even tricky. Ava Dell’s story shows us how having an open mind and an open heart can sometimes point us in the right direction.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs August 1 – 31, 2024
Drawing will be held on September 2, 2024.
Author Biography:
Rhode Island writers Leigh Brown and Victoria (Vikki) Corliss are friends who became co-authors in 2009. Soon after, they published their first novel, Second Chances, followed by The Pie Sisters in 2015, and The Pendulum’s Truth in 2018. Stay tuned for their yet untitled fourth novel coming soon in early 2025.
Social Media Links:
Thank you, Leigh and Victoria, for sharing your book in our Binge-Worthy Book Festival!