Blog Archives
Complex Emotions
Cecily’s Choice centers around a watercolor artist who is facing the professional challenge of completing a major hotel commission as she is forced to face the family tragedy she fled years prior. Where did the idea behind this novel come from?
I wanted to create a story about the challenges of overcoming a traumatic past and incorporate elements of mystery and, eventually, reconciliation and hope. I used a young adult as the protagonist because many times what one thinks as a teenager is not the same outlook one has as a young adult due to maturity. I used a young lady artist, Cecily, because she would have more reader sympathy in dealing with complex emotions than a young man would evoke (in our culture, young men are more often told to bury and “deal with” their emotions rather than express them). I am very familiar with the issues of producing art because my wife of over 40 years is a professional artist. Finally, I wanted to place the setting in one of my favorite places, Mendocino.
Cecily’s return home is both a professional assignment and an emotional reckoning. Why was it important to intertwine those two journeys?
The professional assignment is vital because (1) she needs money, and (2) the work forces her to go to a place she knows well, the beautiful and stunning Mendocino Coast, where she can easily paint numerous subjects for the work. But the assignment forces her at the same time to deal with the scars of her past, something she ran away from and tried adamantly to avoid. It forces her to have new memories of the place she once escaped from.
The novel suggests that returning home doesn’t necessarily mean returning to the past. What does “home” mean to you?
Home is a place of rest and refuge, a place of community, respect, and love.
What do you hope readers take away about forgiveness—both of others and of themselves?
Everyone makes mistakes, but they don’t have to define who you are unless you allow them to. Rising above a broken or dismal past is a common pattern among positive people. Others are also imperfect, so to have good relations with others, one must forgive. It also takes bravery to forgive.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
Cecily’s Choice
Cecily’s Choice is a contemporary family drama with mystery elements about Cecily MacIntyre, a young watercolor artist who returns to Mendocino under pressure to complete a major hotel commission. What begins as a professional challenge soon becomes something much more personal when Cecily is forced to face the family tragedy she fled years earlier, including the fire that killed her mother and the disappearance of her brother, Allison. The story follows her through work, memory, fear, and reunion as she begins to understand that going home is not the same as going backward.
I appreciated how the book ties Cecily’s art to her inner life. The painting scenes are not just decorative. They show how she sees the world, and more importantly, how that vision changes as she starts to heal. At first, the coast is a workplace and a deadline. Then it becomes memory. Then inheritance. The author makes strong use of the Mendocino setting, and I could feel the cold air, the cliffs, the ocean, and the stubborn quiet of the place. Sometimes the story is direct, almost plainspoken, but that works for the kind of story being told because it feels sincere.
What stood out to me most was the book’s interest in courage. Not loud courage. Not heroic speeches. The quieter kind. Cecily has to keep painting even when she is afraid she will fail. Allison has to come back to a past he barely understands. Audrey has to let old wounds into the room instead of keeping them neatly folded away. I did find some turns in the plot a bit convenient, especially near the end, but I also understood the emotional purpose behind those choices. This is not a cynical book. It wants restoration to be possible, and there is something refreshing about that.
I would recommend Cecily’s Choice to readers who enjoy gentle contemporary fiction, family-centered drama, and stories about artists finding their footing. It will especially appeal to those who like books about returning home, rebuilding broken ties, and discovering that the work we thought might break us can sometimes lead us back to ourselves.
Pages: 112 | ASIN : B0H3CQQ1KL
