Twelve-year-old Maddie Mullins stubbornly believes she can solve life’s problems on her own.

       Since the loss of her father as a toddler, Maddie seeks the love she feels is missing from her life. Her rash action to rescue a mysterious Hawaiian woman from a spring thunderstorm pits her squarely against Mama and Uncle Randy. Later she tracks down the woman at a local nursing home and develops a friendship with her. Will Maddie be able to continue her friendship to the one person with whom she can connect?

 

     Sophia Mullins walls off her emotions when her husband James dies in an airplane crash. The accident occurs off the island of Oahu in nineteen sixty-four.  Physically distant, she expresses her love for her daughter by working long hours as she tries to provide as both mother and father. Sophia’s unresolved grief wounds Maddie and creates an emotional divide between them.

Will Sophia be able to reconcile her own loss and build an emotional bridge to her daughter?

 

     Uncle Randy’s prosthetic leg is a visual reminder of a greater emotional handicap. He was supposed to be on the flight in which James died. His wisecracks hide that pain. Can Uncle Randy move on and finally view himself as a whole man, deserving love?

 

     Elderly Hawaiian Mrs. Noelani is suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s. When her only living relative moves her to a nursing home on the mainland to better care for her, she runs away during an episode of delirium and befriends the headstrong Maddie. On a return trip to Hawaii, Maddie finds an object that places Mrs. Noelani at the scene of Her father’s death. Can Maddie find healing from the hole left in her life by her father’s absence?

 

     The Summer of the Brown Cowry is a twenty-five thousand word Middle Readers Novel that deals with coming of age issues and the concepts of physical and spiritual refuge.

 

Susan Williams, A.K.A. Suzy Parish, has written for The Huntsville Times and currently writes for Examiner.com. She found refuge from hot summers in Richmond, Virginia as a child by holing up in the Bookmobile and reading every book on horses she could find on the dusty shelves. She currently resides in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband, “the best cop in the world” and three incredible daughters. Her two crazy dogs, Brandy and Charlie manage to keep her on her toes with daily mayhem.

Copyright 2009, Suzy Parish, All Rights Reserved