Other Fires: Novel by Lenore H. Gay

Publisher: She Writes Press (October 20, 2020)

Category: Women’s Psychological Fiction, Medical Fiction

Synopsis

Joss and Phil’s already rocky marriage is fragmented when Phil is injured in a devastating fire and diagnosed with Capgras delusion―a misidentification syndrome in which a person becomes convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an identical imposter. Faced with a husband who no longer recognizes her, Joss struggles to find motivation to save their marriage, even as family secrets start to emerge that challenge everything she thought she knew.

With two young daughters, a looming book deadline, and an attractive but complicated distraction named Adam complicating her situation even further, Joss has to decide what she wants for her family―and what family even means.

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Praise

“Once again, Lenore Gay has woven a story that captivates the reader from page one. Other Fires is a brilliant study of tragedy on multiples levels. Beginning with a dysfunctional family struggling in the aftermath of a terrible fire, she expertly peels back the layers of human behavior and motivation that unravels the lives of the guilty and innocent. Peppered with surprising twists and turns, the story will stay with you long after you close the cover.”―PAM WEBBER, author of The Wiregrass and Moon Water

“Heartwarming and dramatic, the two major intertwining stories in Other Fires reach across decades from troubled childhood to mid-life adults and reaffirm what remains human and vulnerable in all of us. The portraits of the main characters arc from hopelessness to vulnerability and a sense of recovery. Gay holds the reader’s attention from the first page.”―DIANA Y. PAUL, author of Things Unsaid

“How do people figure out their minds? This novel explores what constitutes reality, and from whose perspective. Drawing on her varied experiences in life and background in rehabilitation and mental health counseling, Lenore Gay weaves together the perspectives of compelling characters who interact in ways that keep the pages of this novel turning.”―CHRIS REID, PhD, Rehabilitation Psychology

Excerpt

At school Terpe overheard awful words when she walked down the halls: “weird” and “strange” in loud whispers; but this hurt her the most: “stay away from that girl with the weird name.”

During class Terpe drew tree houses to help her decide among different shapes. She’d ask Dad if it should tower high on the other side of the creek, or face the hill? Should it sit on a strong branch with a tall ladder, or should they build it wider, close to the ground? When Dad got better, they’d decide.

Princess Roway and mermaids had purple, green and blue fins, so she drew them that way. While her hands stayed busy, she waited for the teacher to say something interesting. Why did teachers go over how to add and subtract, information she knew before she started school? She wanted to learn something new.

After school, she hurried down the hill behind her house. No boys. Ice covered the ground and her feet made crunching noises. She moved to keep warm. Bright gray sky shone through tree branches. She tossed her hair and hummed like she didn’t care whether either boy showed up, in case they were watching, hiding behind bushes. She spit. “To hell with them,” she muttered loud enough for them to hear.

Her house felt toasty warm but what about killing an animal to make a fur coat to keep her warm outside? Last summer she used Dad’s knife and carved a bow, quiver and some arrows out of sticks. She hid them in the back of her closet where her mother never cleaned. Firehose water ruined them and she threw them away. Now new ones:

“Bow, I call you, and I call you, quiver and I call you, splendid arrows.” Her bow appeared in her hand. At her feet lay a quiver and a pile of arrows. She filled the quiver, slung it on her back and walker deeper into the woods. A small animal, like a ferret, scurried out of the brush. She’d have to kill too many to make a coat. She threw her bow, arrows and quiver on the ground and stomped on them until they disappeared into the dirt.

She needed the boys’ help to travel to catch a big beast, to help her kill it, skin and dry it. This would turn into a better adventure than bowing to stupid Princess Roway who couldn’t even talk right.

Terpe paced, thinking up nasty words to say to the boys. Twigs snapped. They crashed through the woods and stood nearby. With hands on her hips, she stood tall. “You’re late. I’ve thought of an adventure and we have to get started.” They probably expected her to talk nice because she was a girl. Did they realize she could kill an animal as well as they could?

“This is the plan. We’ll shoot a big animal. I’ll make bows and arrows for us. I’ll shoot first. You all will have turns. You two will skin, clean and dry it. No blood and guts can stink up my coat. It should look like the fur coats in stores on Main Street.”

“You’re spoiled rotten,” Benjy said. “We need another girl in our group. One who won’t boss us and act like a priss-pot.”

“We do not need more girls. There are three girls and one Dad in my family. Besides, I’m a tomboy.”

“I’m not messing with blood and guts.” Benjy stuck out his tongue.

“I’ll help,” Declan said. “If you find me a good gut-scraping knife.”

“With a knife our problem should be solved expediently.” Benjy said. “Let’s send ourselves to the mountains. The biggest animals live up high.”

Declan walked faster than Benjy and led the way through the woods. Terpe thought Declan knew geography the best. In fact, geography might be his only good subject, besides art. She wouldn’t ask, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

“Where should we go,” she asked.

Declan’s hand sliced the air. “Mongolia, on those plains horses are short, yet strong. Shaggy because it’s really cold. We’ll steal three and race for miles until we find the biggest animals. Or maybe send ourselves to Nepal? Montana? Big animals will be sleeping in dens if it’s terrifically cold. We’ll disturb their hibernation and they won’t like it. Maybe we’ll kill one quick.”

“The word “Montana” means “mountain” in Spanish, Montana has over a hundred named mountain ranges and sub-ranges. Spruce and the Douglas firs grow at the top. Lots of bears, mountain lions and goats. Let’s go to the Rattlesnake Mountains. 8,000 feet, high enough.”

Montana sounded fine. She and Benjy outvoted Declan who said he didn’t care.

She wondered how Benjy could he lift his head it seemed so crammed with words.

“We’ll land on a valley floor.  We’ll have to climb rocks and boulders.” Benjy rubbed his hands.

They made a pact: if one of them got lost, they’d stop search for the lost one. In a circle and held hands. Benjy muttered jumbled words. They ran around in a circle and let go, spinning so fast, Terpe fell and her hand twisted under her. She jumped up.

“We’re at a perfect spot,” Benjy pronounced while she held her wrist and shoved it in her pocket.

They climbed. Declan let out a whoop. “Lean over, it’ll make the air warmer. Sideways-steps might attract mountain goats. We could grab one of those.”

She held her nose. “Phew, goats stink. Walking straight up’s hard enough. You think I want to walk sideways? Or wear a nasty coat stinking like a goat?”

Fussing, they climbed. White birds, each with two sets of wings flew close. When the sun shone on their giant bodies, the undersides of their wings flashed yellow and green.

Declan hollered, “Watch out, Terpe, one of those birds might swoop down, pick you up and carry you away!” His voice rose, “Watch out. Really! Something’s flying your way.”

Guest Review by Bookgirl

Lenore H.Gay’s novel ‘Other Fires’ is about loss, motherhood, passion, betrayal, and the different ways that these things can entangle and complicate our lives.
Joss is a writer, working on her second book and raising her two young daughters. Before the beginning of the story, she and her husband have some marital troubles when he is unfaithful. Phil is the husband of Joss and father of her daughters. At the beginning of the story, he is sleeping on the couch because his wife no longer wants to sleep with him. Terpe (short for Euterpe, because her mother has a PhD in Greek mythology) is their 8 year-old daughter. As plucky and inquisitive as any adult, she is bright for her age.

All three are sleeping peacefully in their house one night when it mysteriously catches on fire. Terpe smells the smoke first, and wakes her parents, grabbing her baby sister and rushing out of the house. During the family’s escape from the inflamed house, Phil is caught under some falling boards and sustains a massive head injury. Thankfully, Joss and Terpe manage to pull him to safety but he remains in a medically induced coma for several weeks as they try to rebuild their lives after the fire.

When Phil finally wakes, he is subtly different in an alarming way. Because of the injury, he begins experiencing something called Capgras syndrome, a disease of the mind which makes the sufferer think that the people around them are deceiving them. Basically, he assumes that Joss has been replaced with a perfect impostor and no one can convince him differently.

This book is a whirlwind of intense emotion and character study. The author really created something unique and interesting, and she clearly did her research on the medical aspects. I highly recommend this one!

About the Author

Lenore Gay is a retired Licensed Professional Counselor with a master’s in sociology and rehabilitation counseling. She was an adjunct faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rehabilitation Counseling Department for thirty years. She has worked in several agencies and psychiatric hospitals, and for ten years worked at her private counseling practice before becoming Coordinator of VCU’s Rehabilitation Counseling Department internship program.

Her debut novel, Shelter of Leaves, was a finalist for the Foreword Book of the Year award and a finalist for an INDEFAB award. For three years, Lenore has served on the Steering Committee of the RVALitCrawl, which has been featured in RVAMag, Richmond Family Magazine, and Richmond Magazine. She is an active member of James River Writers. She lives in Richmond, Virginia.

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