This title is # 11 on the Best Indie Books of 2019. All votes and nominations were counted. I am pleased to introduce new stories to readers, so please check out this book.
The Cherries by D B Carter
Synopsis:
When they have broken you, when you have been humiliated, bullied, deserted and destitute, can you find a place where you may dare to be happy?
Susan travels with her mother, escaping a life of heartbreak and poverty in the city, to live with their one remaining friend in a small rural village.
At twenty Susan is still bound by the trauma of her youth, but starts to blossom into womanhood, thanks to the tender encouragement of Luke, the eccentric occupant of ‘The Cherries’, who lives surrounded by books and art. It is a journey of tears and laughter, helping to heal mind and spirit.
But can the past ever be truly behind you?
Feeling safe and secure at last, mother and daughter nurture artistic talents that they had long since thought worthless, and their lives take directions they could never have imagined.
Yet, amongst the kindness and love in their new community, there lies hidden grief and a long-suppressed secret that must come to light. Something that might force Susan to another life beyond the confines of the village.
Excerpt:
Marian and Susan studied the map. A frantic search through the car for Vivian’s written directions to her house had been fruitless, and their respective mobile phones had taken them to two different wrong addresses for the postcode. Texts to Vivian were not replied to and phone calls to her just went straight to voicemail.
The afternoon shadows were lengthening into evening shade, but the air was still warm. It would be a rather perfect summer’s eve, if you weren’t hungry and humiliated in equal measure.
They had stopped the car in a small lay-by near a crossroads and they were trying to find where they were on the map, when a sturdy woman appeared, walking two large black Labradors. Marian opened her window as the lady passed.
“Please could you tell me where Hayfield Barn is?” she asked. “I don’t know the name of the road it is on, so I know it is a bit of a long shot.”
The lady beamed at them.
“Why yes, my lovelies, I know the very place. My Sid worked on the conversion, oh it must be getting on for fifteen years back. Take the right fork and then next right again. Follow the road for about half a mile and it will be on your left.”
“Thank you so much,” said Marian, while Susan did her best to smile at her.
They followed the instructions carefully, down through a small area of woodland, before turning a bend and seeing the most beautiful house they had ever seen. It was a well-proportioned Georgian building, with cream-painted rendering, white-glossed bow windows and a front garden filled with cherry trees in blossom. A sign at the end of the driveway read ‘The Cherries’. The other side of an open courtyard, they saw a brick-built barn conversion, with rosewood windows and a stable-style front door, the top half of which was open. And there Vivian stood waving to them and gesturing to a bottle of wine she had in her hand.
M
Buylink:
Author Information:
Comments