BOOK DESCRIPTION
Jayne Lisbeth’s second novel, Raising the Dead, is a coming of age book which delves into the importance of friendship between women and men, strangers and spirits.
Raising the Dead, bookmarked in the year 1979, is the exploration of a young bride’s struggle towards maturity and overcoming the depths of grief. Ms. Lisbeth’s beautiful, poetic prose weaves history, love, friendship, reading, culinary arts, crafts and the beauty of nature into the development of Emeline, the protagonist of this remarkable work.
Synopsis:
Emeline, a new bride, has been transported from her beloved home in the California Delta by her husband with their move to his mother’s home city, Charles Town, in Virginia. Marooned in grief after the deaths of her beloved parents. a mysterious elderly woman, Felicity, befriends her. Through Felicity Emeline learns to love reading, cooking. She also becomes confident enough to reach out to others and form new friendships. Felicity teaches Emeline the craft of chair caning, which becomes a lucrative enterprise which further assists Emeline in her search for independence and maturity. When Emeline is most dependent on Felicity her friend mysteriously disappears. With the assistance of her new-found friends Emeline searches and discovers for her lost friend. Through the love of friendship, her husband and her friends assist Emeline in her search for Felicity, Emeline’s mentor and “other mother,” Emeline discovers a frightening spiritual reality which uplifts her in unimaginable ways. Through friendship she learns the value of love and the enduring spirit of those who have touched her life, even if they are no longer among the living.
Raising the Dead is a mystery to be unearthed by the reader in these poetic pages. Loveable and quirky characters, both living and dead, entrance and entertain. Reviewers of Raising the Dead “can’t put this book down” until they discover how and where Emeline finds her dear friend. Emeline’s friendships, the development of her relationship with her husband and her search for Felicity help this young bride to move into her future. Emeline is a beloved heroine worthy of the most sophisticated and avid readers.
Raising the Dead is available at Amazon.
Em could have recognized every twist and turn of the drive from their cabin to Charles Town even if she had been blindfolded by the way their little Rambler navigated the rutted road. Their cabin #25 was set back from the road, with a long dirt driveway leading to the dusty, washboarded Heavenly Hollow Lane. Em loved to watch the distant cabin lights flickering like fireflies through the darkness. She noticed every turn in the road on their trips into town, noting the fields across the road, filled with wildflowers. Some fields held growing vegetables, tidy rows of corn, lettuce and tomatoes or fields of hay. Some cabins embraced the road with barely enough room to park a vehicle. Eventually, the cabins disappeared and more trees appeared: elm, shimmering Aspen, stately Oak, delicate Willow and ancient Maples lined the road at various points.
The skittering of the Rambler at the bottom of the long Heavenly Hollow hill and over the worst of the washboard road announced their arrival to civilization at the intersection of Heavenly Hollow Lane and Charles Town Road. The smooth asphalt welcomed the Rambler’s worn shocks and put an end to the teeth chattering drive.
Like spokes on a wheel, roads led off the main Charles Town Road in all directions.Theydirections. They first passed Little Lake Road. In the distance Em could spy the small lake, its mirror-like surface reflecting the sun and clouds, with a few cozy cottages nestled at the far end. Walkways led from the cottages to weathered docks, with moored boats bobbing in the water. Next were fish shacks and cabins, listing into one another with repairs in makeshift patterns of wood and tar paper, while others had fallen into their stone foundations. The views changed from cabins to farm houses, picturesque in fields of growing vegetables. The largest lots were scattered with tractors and old rusting farm equipment, a tribute to long histories of farming. The backdrop in distant pastures were cows and horses grazing peacefully. The pastoral scene changed as the road progressed, exhibiting larger stone cottages, prettily covered with
vines and trellises. Walkways were covered with blooming roses, bougainvillea of all shades, and purple trumpet flowers. Emerald lawns were trimmed and carefully tended, bordered with more
flowerbeds or vegetable patches. Entering the Village Green in the center of Charles Town the largest homes appeared, homes of the wealthiest in the community. These were much older than the smaller cottages, and had probably been the center of Charles Town when it was originally established. Some were whitewashed brick like Margret’s home or all shades of red, burnt sienna and umber colored brick. These homes were two stories tall with pretty wooden gingerbread adorned verandahs and porches decorating lower and upper stories. Many had two, even three stone chimneys climbing majestically up the sides of the largest mansions. Long drives were
gated, discouraging the curious and intruders.
As they entered Charles Town Em’s favorite place, the Library, sat directly across from the center of the village green. The stately courthouse, two imposing stories high, rose next to the library. Two field stone churches, one at each end of the Green, invited Lutherans and Catholics to Sunday services and Wednesday Bible studies. Beyond the Green small shops lined the two main streets of town: Elm and Maple. The shops crowded together in brick, wood frame and stone, leaning against one another like old friends, bulwarked by their history, bracing for whatever the future held. Ornate and hand-carved and painted signs announced their wares: Sew What? Going Places Leather, Book Nook, FlakeyFlaky Foreigners Bakeshop, Thrifty Threads, Prim and Proper Women’s Apparel and Antique Lives. The Inn and Out Diner was at the far end of Elm Street, housed in its small wooden building, beckoning visitors with quaint red and white
gingham curtains. Em peered into the diner which held few customers. Em hadn’t explored all of the stores yet, but looked forward to doing so.
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