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Phone Calls After: A Bonnard Family Novel

by Gwen Enquist

181 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-3054; ISBN 1-4251-1295-1; US$15.39, C$17.70, EUR12.64, £8.85

A grieving Anna is overwhelmed by confusing phone calls that reveal secrets about her husband's life and death. Can the family reshape their lives without Mathew's strong presence?

About the Book

Do you recall the heart-thumping, stomach-cramping feeling you get when the phone rings in the night? Just three weeks after a similar call delivered the news that her husband, Mathew, was dead, Anna Bonnard is jarred awake by a phone call from Paris. Anna doesn't know the young caller but the girl knows Mathew well. Anna is at first dismayed and then shocked as she learns of many secrets Mathew has kept. As each phone call adds mystery and confusion, Anna begins to crumble under the weight of the secrets.

Each family member struggles with his own grief, but Mitch, Mathew's brother, can't seem to find secure footing without Mathew to prop him up. When Mitch was a rebellious teen looking for excitement, Mathew introduced him to motorcycles, an alternative to more dangerous thrill-seeking behaviour. Motorcycles became Mitch's passion. But when mired in grief and anger, reckless speed doesn't offer Mitch much of a future.

Marta, the older sister, finds that the mother-role she adopted with her two brothers isn't working with 14-year-old Lauren. With Marta tired, overworked and trying to get a fledgling business off the ground, Lauren adds to her emotional load by testing boundaries. The strain on Marta's relationship with her daughter is compounded by bitterness and resentment as Lauren chooses to find solace with her Uncle Mitch and a stray dog she is determined to claim.

Sylvie, Anna's sister, has her own special reasons for mourning Mathew. Her constant volunteerism is an escape from memories. With bouts of depression cycling through Sylvie's life and without Mathew's guiding presence, it's only a matter of time until her stability is shattered by this latest emotional trauma. Come along with the Bonnard family as they discover inner strengths and learn lessons about life and family love.

About the Author

Gwen Enquist's first career was as a registered nurse. She satisfied the need for books in her life by joining book clubs and becoming an avid reader. She has now found a second career in writing and uses her many years of experience in the health care field to create credible characters who could be your neighbours, your relatives, or yourself dealing with real life issues. Married, with one adult child and living on Canada's west coast, she travels frequently to Ontario to visit family and friends.

Excerpts