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What Ails Seth?
Seth’s psychiatrist has an easy answer for why Seth is oppressed by mood swings and recurring nightmares of a creature in a swamp. But the bleeding scratches on his neck will not be so easily explained away by the Bipolar II diagnosis. Upending his successful life in Atlanta, Seth seeks the answer in his native Sierra Leone. His arrival inadvertently triggers a latent grieving process in his cold mother, Evelyn, who has spent her life exerting her unyielding will over the practice both of memory and of forgetting. Despite courting a mystical experience, undergoing an exorcism, and seeking to excise the frustrations of his childhood by setting up a camp for underprivileged kids, the creature, and its attendant ills, claims more and more of his being. This leaves him to face the prospect of madness, violence and death. As he begins to realize that he will never be free from the creature, he takes the biggest risk of all – yielding to it.
“Richly layered in a unique flavor of the mind, this is a finely crafted novel with an artisan’s touch.”
“…a poignant tale of grief, family, forgiveness, and the monsters from childhood we struggle to outgrow. Cheney-Coker is an author to watch.”
— William Walsh, author of Lakewood
— Robert Gwaltney, award-winning author of The Cicada Tree, and 2023 Georgia Author of the Year.
“An amazing compassionate story of sacrifice and forgiveness.”
— Ann Hite, award-winning author of Haints On Black Mountain: A Haunted Short Story Collection
What Makes Someone Suddenly Upend Their Life?
Curiosity lit the spark. It was the initial pinprick of interest in why someone with an objectively successful life, would, for no outwardly apparent reason, seek to abandon what others so fiercely envied. Thus, Seth came into being with all his encumbrances, his inner hauntedness. Having essentially achieved the American dream at a tender age, he quits his well-paying job, breaks up with his lovely girlfriend and puts his house up for sale for reasons he cannot articulate well to anyone. For who would understand what he describes as “The Thing,” without deeming him mad.
More Reviews
“This author’s writing is simply beautiful, painting both place and emotion with vivid imagery. This is one of those rare novels that makes you think and feel in equal measure. I am already looking forward to whatever this talented author writes next. Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates powerful storytelling and exquisite writing. This book is my new favorite gift to give.”
— FemPM
“The lyrical language of a poet stitches together this astounding story of brothers and brokenness, homeland, and no place to feel at home, and the primal desire to be seen and understood. Self-understanding eludes the main character. Is he experiencing an existential crisis–or bipolarity. A thread of magical realism blurs even the reader’s sense of reality. This “novel” novelist becomes the goddess/creator of perfectly flawed redemptive characters. It’s a one-of-kind must read!”
— Amazon Customer
“This feast was like a gourmet meal! Cheney-Coker has blown me away with her marvelous first Novel. I was captivated from the beginning and could hardly put it down! I love savoring delicious writing and this wonderful book was the rarest of delectable finds. Her use of imagery is superb. Her storytelling simply brilliant! There is a depth, breadth and magnitude to this book that is simply superlative. I can hardly imagine such quality from one so young. What can I say more! Just read it!!! And tell your friends!!! I rarely re-read books, this one I expect to read over and over again.”
— Michael W. Weber
“To say I loved this book would be an understatement. It was unlike anything I’ve read in the past. You will definitely be drawn in by the characters and plot. Read this book!
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— LB
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