The Reminisce
H.L. Cherryholmes
Genre: Paranormal
Date of Publication: June 7, 2017
ISBN: 1545307628
ASIN: B072QL4S46
Number of pages: 340
Word Count: 122,743
Cover Artist: Keri Knutson
Tagline: A detour down memory lane wakes up the ghosts.
Book Description:
Curtis Aisling has literally dodged a bullet. At least he thinks he has. But he wonders whether that bullet still has it out for him when he leaves his ex-fiancé and Los Angeles behind for Coronado, New Mexico to borrow some much-needed money from his sister.
The small dilapidated desert town of Coronado has exactly one mansion, belonging to 92-year-old Veronica Meeks. Curtis’s sister, Dia, and her partner, Araceli, are Veronica’s live-in caretakers and while they are delighted to have a visitor, Veronica doesn’t even know he’s there.
In the final stages of what the locals call “the reminisce,” she is no longer aware of her surroundings. But when Curtis starts seeing things that no one else does, he’s not convinced that the old, unresponsive woman is as disconnected as everyone thinks. At times what should be empty rooms within the huge house appear filled with furniture, and music emanates from a dusty radio that has been packed away for ages. Tales of Veronica’s associations and connections with the occult lead Curtis to believe she is causing the ghostly occurrences.
But when people begin to appear in those phantom rooms—people from her past including Veronica herself—he’s no longer certain it is her doing. Each vision pulls Curtis further and further back, each one detailing a consequential moment in Veronica’s long life, until he begins to fear he could become lost in her past. And then there’s that bullet…
Amazon BN
The
question I’ve been asked is: What about this book makes it special? That’s a
loaded question for sure. My first instinct is to say, “Because all my books
are special.” But I don’t think that’s the sort of answer that provides you any
insight into the book (although it does give a glimpse of my penchant for
smartass-ery). The actual answer is that, although on the surface “The
Reminisce” is a tale about a man in his thirties being drawn into the memories
of a woman in her nineties, it is also a story of a brother and a sister and
the love that they share.
Curtis
Aisling is not what you’d call driven. In fact, he has a knack for skating
through life, even though he doesn’t think of it that way. Conversely, his
older sister Dia Castillo (they have different fathers) has always been
determined and has never relied on anyone but herself to get through the twists
and turns of life. Up until the events that take place in the book both outlooks
have served the siblings fairly well. For Curtis, however, luck comes to an
abrupt end when his fiancée calls off the engagement and kicks him out of the
house. That’s how he finds himself back in his home state of New Mexico,
visiting his sister and her girlfriend, who are the caretakers for the richest
lady in town. His arrival also alters the daily life that Dia has carefully
cultivated.
Being
a sibling—half-, step-, or whole—is an exercise juggling the feelings of love,
hate, jealousy, exasperation, admiration, and that familial bond, that shared
experience that only people who have grown up in the same household can have.
And of course there is the placement within the family. The younger sibling
always seems to get away with things the older sibling never could. That’s how
it is for Curtis and Dia. They grew up in a home run by a (most of the time)
single mother and are a few years apart. Dia, as the elder child, has an
entirely different perspective than her baby brother on what growing up
together meant. She likes to think that she has a clearer view of Curtis than
he seems to have of himself, while Curtis believes that her vision is tinged by
the past that he had no control over. They are both absolutely wrong and
absolutely right, leaving them to face who they were then, who they are now,
and how it makes them different but not separate. Or, as their mother might
say, “All my children are special.”
Excerpt:
Dia returned her
attention to the old woman and took her bony, veiny hand. “Veronica, honey,
this is my brother Curtis. You’ve seen his picture in our bedroom, remember? He
came for a visit.” She looked up at Curtis. “Veronica was quite smitten with
you the first time she saw your picture. Couldn’t take her eyes off it and she
would just smile and smile.”
Curtis knelt
next to his sister. Greeting the old woman seemed pointless, since it was
obvious by her vacant stare that she wasn’t aware of her surroundings. But his
sister was right; introducing himself was the proper way to behave regardless
of her condition. “Hello, Miss Meeks. I’m Curtis Aisling.”
The old woman’s
wispy gray hair was short and pulled back by small butterfly barrettes. Her
thin face was pinkish-white, wrinkled, and haloed with brown age spots. The
eyes that seemed to be looking at something no one else could see were a cloudy
gray-blue. Her small frame was covered in a clean pink nightgown and she wore
blue slippers.
“How old is
she?” Curtis asked.
Dia stood up to
help Araceli gather the tray with Veronica’s barely touched lunch on it.
“Ninety-two.”
Remaining
crouched before her, Curtis continued to look at the old woman. He found it
difficult to imagine that the slack face in front of him had once been young,
but he searched for signs of it anyhow. If there was life in her dull gaze,
Curtis was sure he would find it there. A strong hot breeze rattling the palm
fronds behind the gazebo hit him in the back. That’s when Veronica blinked and
looked right at him.
“Finally,” she
whispered.
About the Author:
H.L. Cherryholmes, author of The Lizard Queen Series, The Reminisce, Come Back for Me, and A Slight Touch was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico but has spent most of his adult life in California. He has a BFA from University of New Mexico and a Master's degree in Playwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, he lives in SoCal with his husband, Ron Cogan.
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