The Box of Secrets -- a novel

The Box of Secrets, a coming-of-age family drama set in the 1970s, tells the story of 13-year-old Martie Wheeler, whose father’s abrupt death has left her stunned and confused about the way he died. The only thing she’s been told, by her increasingly distant mother, is that he suffered a “simple” heart attack.

Instead of grieving, Martie’s mother, a real estate agent with dreams of becoming an interior decorator, uproots Martie and her emotionally fragile older sister, Blaire, to live in Wisconsin.  Once there, Blaire, her father’s favorite, quickly unravels, clashing constantly with her mother and bonding only with the neighborhood “witch,” an eccentric artist.

Martie suffers too, but in a quieter way. The pleaser, the observer, prone to nose bleeds and pimples, Martie longs to be saved. She plans her own baptism, believing the drop of water will change everything. And it’s Martie who finds the “box of secrets,” uncovering the truth about her father’s death.

Please click to read the first few chapters of The Box of Secrets. 

Am currently seeking a publisher for this book.