Synopsis

Behind the Fan by Caroline Walken follows the family of Dorothy Kennedy-Denham as they care for her.  Dottie has lived nearly a century, outliving friends, family and the love of her life Nicky.  She slips into the past often, and the family is at a loss as to how to reach her.  She, however, has found a place that gives her peace and comfort, one where she again celebrates her life and her love.  Her memory lapse allows Nicky the opportunity to connect with her again, holding him in ‘The Void’ where he can only move forward if she joins him.  Dottie would willingly do so, but she has unfinished business to attend first.

After a nearly fatal accident, her family arrives in her home.  The decision made that the safest place for their feeble relative is in an assisted living facility.  However, a discovery in the woman’s memorabilia opens a door no one expected.

The family embarks on a journey that unravels a history they never imagined.  This also gives Dottie an opportunity to share her life’s lessons with those she holds most dear.

This is not just another heartfelt family moment, however; the family may need to embrace a passing entanglement with gangsters and bootleggers, this being only on their grandfather’s side of the family.  They first must recover from the shock that their sweet grandmother was a burlesque dancer and a successful one at that!

In retelling her life story Dottie is able to use her life’s lessons to help the women in her family come to terms with their own battles.  Whether it is love, trust or confidence, Dottie has a treasure trove of examples to use.   Finally, those that she loves find a new path to happiness and she is free to pursue her own.  In her life and in her passing, she touches her great-granddaughter, Maisie the deepest.  A quiet studious girl, she is keen to notice the faint scent of Cigar smoke and questions if Dottie’s ‘moments’ could be more.  Her great-grandmother helps her see the beauty she possesses and gives her confidence to seek her own happiness.   In the end, she will circle back to the same home, electing to begin her family there in the place where she feels loved.

Behind the Fan is more than just a romance; it is a comedy, a story of family and one of hope.  In it, I explore if the state of dementia could be something more, or could it be this is what we simply hope.  The setting of Newport Kentucky based on the city’s rich and interesting history.  I grew up in northern Kentucky and I am not ashamed to say my family may have had a gangster or two in our family tree as well.  I feel the characters are rich and multifaceted and keeping the reader turning to the next page.

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Excerpt

The photo shoot…

Behind the Fan by Caroline Walken

The stage lights glare; the runway is polished to a high gleam.  The photographer arranges the lighting to shine at an angle so it won’t interfere with the shot.  Backstage she makes careful preparations.  She concentrates on her make-up and the set of her hair.  All morning, she wears hard curlers until her scalp is sore from them.  She stands before a mirror, brushing her hair to a soft gleam; in the end, she decides the pain is well worth it.  With layer applications, she mops her foundation on heavier than normal, next she strokes on the blush darker to show up better under in the photo.  She borrows false lashes from Lillie; while gluing them in place, she prays they won’t pop loose under the heat of the lights.  Holding her breath, she steadies her hand, carefully she applies black eyeliner to her upper lids; fearing it looks like a black slash against her fair skin.  Straightening she examines her handiwork; pleased that the eyeliner frames her eyes, bringing them to the forefront.  Lastly, she brushes on the pancake powder liberally to ward off the shine.  Her feathered fans are her ‘shtick’ and in the days preceding; she grooms them to perfection.  Behind their shield, her attire will be a skimpy shell pink satin bra, matching panties, and garter belt.  In the poor lighting of the dressing area, Dot carefully rolls the silk seamed hose up her leg, gently snapping the top to her garter.  When her preparations are complete, she stands before the pitted mirror for a critical look.  She doesn’t recognize the woman in the cracked surface.  She does not see the exhausted pseudo-mother working until the wee hours of the morning only to rise again within hours to see Donny off to school.  She is not the girl that prayed in church every Sunday to make next weeks’ rent.  This girl is not the ignorant virgin that laughs at bawdy jokes without knowing why they were funny.

Dottie stands before the mirror looking at the image of a real woman.  She is beautiful; like a goddess, she stares entranced, she doesn’t recognize her reflection.

She is satisfied that she is ready and pulls on her faded flannel robe; she grabs the large fans and heads for the stage.  She explains her routine to the photographer; the thin man nods on occasion between fumbling with his thick glasses and adjusting his camera lens.  She takes this as his approval for her routine.  She glances over at Nicky; the look in his eyes causes her to stop.  No man has ever looked at her like that.  The look in Nicky’s eyes is difficult to resist, hard for her to ignore.  It is clear that she set him back on his heels this time.  He has a thing for her; the man hardly keeps it a secret.  He is an outrageous flirt, and he seldom gives her a moment’s peace.  A considerable challenge now that Donny has taken a shine to him.  Card tricks, Nicky wormed his way in showing the boy card tricks!  Now Donny also campaigns for him!  It won’t do him any good; she has a front row seat to the roller coaster ride a woman took after taking up with one of these boys.  Layoff men are addicted to the action; they raise hell like there is no tomorrow, and run through women like whiskey.  She sees first-hand what the other girls go through.  The last thing she needs is complications from the likes of Nick Denham.

Within the darkness in the back of the runway, she glances at the shadowed form seated at the piano, despite the fact he didn’t smile, she knows that his eyes twinkle.  The butterflies in her stomach flutter; she is uncertain which situation is responsible for this.  Nicky leans forward, and he rolls into a slow, sultry number; the horn player joins in, but it is the piano that takes the lead.  She draws in a deep breath and unties the robe, shrugging her shoulders she drops it; she kicks it beyond view.  Strangely, she feels naked and needs a moment to settle her nerves.  She exhales, and snaps the fans to life; they flare out around her like an angel’s wings as she steps into the halo of light.  The piano meets her, welcoming her to the dance.  Slowly she sways waving the feathered fans around her.  Closing her eyes, she permits the melody to lead her all the while undulating the fans around her nearly nude body.  At last, she finds her rhythm, Dottie opens her eyes to stare not at the photographer, but instead at the camera lens itself.  She intends to provoke the instrument into falling in love with her.  In place of the shuttered lens, she imagines Nicky’s face, envisioning his reaction to her movements.  Secretly she dances for his pleasure, allowing his music to make love to her.  As Nicky runs his fingers up and down the keyboard, she fantasizes how he would run his hands over her body.  Lightening his touch; barely tickling the keys as he teases her, just as she would expect him to do.  In response, she gyrates and lowers her body to the floor, swiveling she rises again like smoke.  Rapidly, twisting and seducing the melody from him.  His fingers now fly across the piano keys increasing the tempo to match.  Dottie spins, arching her back and throwing back her head as the music thrusts its way inside her.  Nick cleverly chases her, never allowing her to escape him as he brings her to the crescendo of the performance.  Hitting the final note, he holds her in there; leaving them both breathless.   She drops the fans to the stage, the clatter echoes in the silent club.  A sheen of sweat glistens on her skin under the glare of the spotlight, her hair in disarray, she pants uncontrollably.

Picking up the fans, she carefully refolds them before retreating to the back of the stage to retrieve her robe.  Quietly the audience begins to converse again, the words muffled by the pounding of her heart.  It is crucial that this had gone well, over her shoulder she calls to the photographer.

“Sir, did you get the photos you needed?”

When she received only silence she turns, the photographer is mopping his face with his handkerchief; all he does is nod.

About the Author

Caroline Walken has several titles in publication currently; Ell’s Double Down, Reggie’s No Limit, Nowhere on the Map and the latest, Behind the fan. The latest novel, Nowhere on the Map was accepted for the 2018 Reader’s Choice Award in the Romance category.  Additionally, her entry In Hiding was the winner of the Writer’s Assembled Short Story Competition in 2017 and is included in the release, Behind Closed Doors on Amazon.  There are plans to expand In Hiding into a full-length novel in the future.  This past June, Rejected Manuscripts published her short story, The Rule of Ten, on their site and it has remained in the top ten since publication.

The consensuses by readers are that her writing is gripping and the characters compelling.  The women love the female characters; appreciating their spunk as well as their flaws.  With a craving for action and adventure, her romance novels are not your typical girl meets boy romances.  Often intertwined with mystery and lawbreaking the stories keep the reader engaged.  Look for other novels by Caroline Walken as her imagination continues to run wild.

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