Wednesday, October 3, 2018

New England Gothic



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Two things today. No, three.
One.  My dad was the music critic for the old Chicago Daily News. As a result, he got to see many productions before the rest of the world.

One was Kismet. (I mean—the musical, Kismet.) Another was West Side Story. Yup. West Side Story. In press previews.

Many years later, I asked him: did you know, when you heard it? When you heard This is My Beloved? Or Tonight?  Did you know they were special?

Yes, he told me. I did.

Two. And it’s the same for books. I get asked to blurb a lot of books. A lot. And often, I say no. I truly do not have time. And I do not want to give a book short shrift.

But sometimes, I say yes.  And then—when the book is fabulous, I feel as if I—like my dad—I have been privy to something special. Something that the rest of the world will soon discover.

Doug at launching Mysterious Books
Three. Meet Doug Burgess. And his (Publishers Weekly starred reviewed!) Fogland Point.

And a copy of his debut novel to one lucky commenter! My name is on the cover. With Nick Petrie, and Michael Koryta. See? Fabulous.

What is Fogland Point about? Please welcome Doug Burgess to tell you.



New England Gothic: 
When I was a kid, my Uncle George figured large in our dinner conversations. There were stories of his war exploits, his travels around the world, the time he met film star Peggy Hopkins Joyce on the Fall River Line ferry to New London and proposed (unsuccessfully) somewhere in Long Island Sound. Finally I brought up the nerve to ask why this remarkable person was never invited to our house.

“Because he died in 1939,” my father answered.


Growing up in a damp and ancient house deep in Swamp Yankee country, the dead were everywhere around me. Our once-large Rhode Island family had dwindled down through the generations until the only remnants were my grandparents, parents, brother and myself. Yet both my elementary and high schools were named after relatives, as was the posh university across the street. The many branches of the family tree lent their names to half the streets of Providence and Newport. 

My father liked to pull the car into random cemeteries, point to a weathered piece of granite and announce brightly, “There’s your Great-Aunt Lydia!”

All this could make a child morbid, or worse. In my case it gave me a curious sense of time. My grandparents, both near-centenarians at their death, had been born when ice was delivered in horse carts and there was still an Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

But when they spoke of the past it did not seem so long ago: the people they described were as real to me as my friends. Vignettes from their lives were offered like a basket of rolls at every holiday dinner: Grandpa Butler gifting his wife with peaches at Christmas because he fancied peach jam, Cousin Betty feeding Alka-Seltzer tablets to the despised seagulls that terrorized her Chihuahua, Uncle Walter in his fisherman’s sou’wester paying for a Steinway piano with a scaly roll of hundred-dollar bills. 

Soon I, too, began telling their stories—eventually, as my grandmother’s mind declined, I told them back to her.

The places, likewise, did not seem impossibly distant, but that was because they were still there. Like much of New England, Rhode Island never changes. The main street of my parent’s town looks much like it did when John Quincy Adams passed through on his way to Washington; the town library where I borrowed my first Agatha Christie was once a congressional hall that voted down the U.S. Constitution in 1790. 

Even the furnishings of my house unmoored me: in school there were Game Boys and Backstreet Boys, yet each evening I wrote my calculus homework on a table brought back from Burma in 1850 and slept in a bed that had birthed three generations of ancestors.

When I came to write Fogland Point, history, memory and place were much in my mind. The story of a young man who returns to the small Rhode Island village of his childhood to take care of a grandmother now coping with dementia, only to discover a body in the house next door, there is much beyond the mystery that is both personal and autobiographical. 

What few people realize is that dementia is not just about what one forgets, but remembers.

As it progressed in my Nana’s mind, she began to move through time at random. One moment she would be a little girl describing the fixtures of her parents’ house in Riverside; next she would begin a conversation with her friend Florence who died in the ‘80’s. 

Once in our car she became convinced that my dad, her son, was abducting her from school and said angrily, “My father is going to be so mad with you!” But then she turned and saw me in the back seat and immediately asked how my studies were getting on. It was as if she had finally transcended the fragile bonds of past and present that I had brushed against my entire life.

Dementia brings the concept of the unreliable narrator to a new level, and this, too, I wanted to explore. Were my grandmother’s memories to be believed? Were her confessions to be trusted? Was my Great-Uncle Bob Daniels really a pedophile, as she suddenly and startlingly claimed? Secrets came pouring out of her, but each left more questions than answers. Much of this translated into the novel.

 Nevertheless I was surprised when a friend read an early draft and said, “Well, you certainly brought Southern Gothic to Southern New England.” So surprised, in fact, that I looked up Southern Gothic on Wikipedia. 

And there it was: “deeply flawed, disturbing or eccentric characters who may be involved in hoodoo, ambivalent gender roles, decayed or derelict settings, grotesque situations, and other sinister events…”

Substitute hoodoo with the Congregational Church and this could have been on the dust jacket for Fogland Point. The world of a dementia sufferer—and those around them—is indeed a kind of gothic landscape where the veneer of the familiar overlays horrors, real and imagined, beneath.

There is a line in the book that strikes particularly close to home: “The house looks just the same as it always has…like nobody has told it the bad news. All my grandmother’s things are waiting for her to come back.” The backdrop remains both homey and comforting, even as the story becomes increasingly bizarre. This was my experience with my own grandmother, and I expect for many others as well.

That porous barrier between real and imagined takes on an increasingly desperate dimension as the disease progresses. We want to hold onto the memories before they are gone for good. A plot device that frames much of the novel—a series of stories told into a tape recorder by multiple narrators—came from one such reel I discovered myself in the family library.

 On it was my father’s youthful voice, and my great-grandfather’s, which I had never heard. Dad asks Grandpa about life during the Depression. “What Depression?” Grandpa wonders. Already the confusion has begun to claim him, as it would his daughter. Sometimes I think I wrote Fogland Point out of fear—that I, too, must tell my stories before it is too late.

I certainly did not set out to write a New England Gothic mystery; on the contrary, in their speech, mannerisms, histories and lives, each of the characters is as real and down-to-earth as I could make them. But the phlegmatic New England Way is a mask we all wear. Anything ugly, unsightly or not-quite-right is shunted behind the house, hidden in the garden shed, so that we can present a pleasant face to company.


In that sense, Rhode Islanders make the best murder suspects anywhere—we conceal everything. The exquisite distress that family and friends experienced as my Nana began voicing her truth is mirrored by the characters in Fogland Point; as Aunt Constance says in the novel, “You shouldn’t pay too much mind to the things she says. She can’t keep stuff inside anymore.”


New England also lends its atmospheric presence to gothic mystery: no craggy moor or swampy fen was ever so desolate as Easton’s Beach on a blustery November afternoon. I chose the town of Little Compton partly because of family connections, but mainly because of its rugged beauty and curiously isolated location, a peninsula jutting out into the North Atlantic without even a bay to protect it. 

The place names were so evocative that I sometimes feared to include them, lest the novel seem garish: Quicksand Pond, Despair Island, even Fogland Point itself. In rendering them I tried to remain as true to the landscape as possible (although my father experienced a moment of panic when he realized, after consulting the map, that Fogland lay just over the town border in Tiverton. Oh, well).
If Fogland Point is gothic, it is only because Rhode Island is equally so: a place where the dead are never truly gone and the past seems forever present. Gothic mystery doesn’t need rotting plantation houses or Spanish moss. A whitewashed Colonial, a neatly trimmed yard and a secret that can’t stay hidden will do just as well.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Whoa. Fabulous. And this is a terrific book. SO—do you love Gothic novels? What does that mean to you? And what do you think about what Doug says?


And a copy of FOGLAND POINT to one very very lucky commenter!



"Elegant prose, a veritable Chinese box of puzzles, and authentic, well-rounded characters make this a standout." Publishers Weekly starred review


Doug Burgess was born in Connecticut. After moving to Rhode Island, where his paternal family has lived for over three hundred years, he received his first education from the Quaker Friends at ses Brown School. Burgess received a BA  from McGill,   a JD from Cornell,  , an LLM from the University of British Columbia and a PhD from Brown University . He now teaches at Yeshiva College.
In 2003, Burgess wrote a dissertation arguing for the legal linkages between piracy and terrorism, and for the possible use of piracy law as a foundation for defining international terrorist organizations. This concept was later articulated in articles for Legal Affairs Magazine,  the National Security Law Report, the New York Times  and other publications. It appeared in book form as "The World For Ransom" (2010). Burgess continues to lecture around the world on counter-terrorism and the law.
Burgess has authored numerous articles for trade and scholarly journals, and one novel, FOGLAND POINT —a mystery set in Little Compton, Rhode Island.
He is a featured blogger for The Huffington Post.  

102 comments:

  1. Such an interesting post, and your book sounds fascinating, Doug. I never really thought about dementia in those terms, but it makes perfect sense. As for Gothic novels, I never deliberately seek them out, but I've read a few novels that contained some Gothic elements and found them to be quite interesting.

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  2. Congratulations, Doug, on your novel . . . “Fogland Point” sounds mysterious and captivating; I’m looking forward to reading it.

    I’ve always thought of gothic stories as ones with a narrative that is fiercely family-focused, ones where the setting is so essential, so tangible that it is integral to the telling of the tale.
    No matter where the story is set, it certainly sounds as if Doug has captured the essence of gothic in his story . . . .

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    1. Oh, he does! I never thought of it as gothiic, though, until he brought it up...

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    2. Joan, that's how I think of gothic, too. What a great description!

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    3. Thank you, Joan! Hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

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  3. Doug, what a backstory! I'm a 36-year transplant into New England, and I love what you say about shunting the unsightly into the garden shed. Also that porous line between real and imagined for people with dementia - so very true. I also love that your novel is about family, place, and secrets - rather than using your professional life as subject matter. This book is definitely going on the TBR list!

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    1. Yes, truly chilling...and so provocative!

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    2. Thank you, Edith! I've actually never thought of using my professional life as subject matter ("professor of Atlantic World History by day, crime-solver by night!"...yeah, probably a good decision ;) ).

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  4. Doug, welcome, this sounds amazing! Definitely on my list. Are you writing another?

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  5. I have to say, Hank, I barely made it to the meat of today's post because I was so gobsmacked about you getting to see the original production of West Side Story in previews. I am in awe!!!!

    But thank goodness I did finally read on, because Doug, "Fogland Point" sounds wonderful!! I don't read a lot of Gothic, but this sounds really compelling. Definitely adding it to the TBR list.

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  6. I am a fan of Gothic, and I love Doug's description of it: "where the dead are never truly gone and the past seems forever present." This book sounds like it strikes the right balance between supernatural and real. Too much woo-woo and I'm out of there. I just finished watching The Miniaturist on public TV -- it felt like there was just enough ambiguity. For me it's best when there's a plausible explanation for what seems supernatural.

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    1. Oh, I haven't seen that, Hallie! We are still in season 2 of Ozark...

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    2. I agree, Hallie. Growing up in a legit haunted house, the most striking fact is how normal it all seems. We had people over for dinner one night and the floorboards above the dining room started to creak. The guests looked nervous but my mother just looked up at the ceiling and shouted, "Quit it!" And it did.

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  7. I tend to ignore definitions, such as 'what is a Gothic?', and read whatever strikes me as interesting. Case in point, Fogland Point. Read it in one night. Highly recommend it!

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  8. I'm not sure whether I care for Gothic or not, as I'm not one for labels. If the story grabs me, and Doug it sounds like your book surely does, then that is all that matters. Can't wait to read it!

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    1. And here's where you can preorder! xoo

      https://www.amazon.com/Fogland-Point-Doug-Burgess-ebook/dp/B07DJYKD4Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1538573890&sr=1-1&keywords=fogland+point

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  9. Your book sounds fantastic, Doug! I'm looking forward to reading it.

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  10. Like Hank, when I read an early review copy of a book that I know is going to be huge - such as Lou Berney's NOVEMBER ROAD - I have a moment of feeling special, knowing that I am privy to this secret club to will soon expand drastically. It's a very unique feeling and one of the many joys of running a review blog such as BOLO Books.

    As for Gothic, it's very near the top of descriptions that will have me rushing to read a book. Since my youth reading the likes of Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney, and Mary Stewart, I have loved that sub-genre. And as I see modern authors, like Carol Goodman, manipulate that style to appeal to newer audiences, it does give me a thrill.

    Interestingly, I have an upcoming post on BOLO Books from Catriona McPherson talking about Gothic Literature - her newest, GO TO MY GRAVE, is very much in that vain. That will run later this month, so keep your eye out for it.

    Now, I have another book to add to the reading pile. Thanks for visiting JRW, Doug. And thanks as always to Hank (and the other Reds) for introducing us to new authors/books.

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    1. Oh, Kristopher--you will love it. And Doug! And I love the new Catriona, too. She's so brilliant.

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  11. While I don't often read gothic, I have enjoyed the ones I have come across. They give me that lingering sense of dread/eerie sensation. I am assisting my mother-in-law, who has dementia. Your description is accurate and certainly resonates with me.

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    1. Oh, Lil, that is so challenging. We're glad you're here to share with us..

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    2. Much of the reason for writing this story was to share that experience of being a caregiver to someone with dementia. I was frankly appalled at how seniors with these issues are all too often depicted. Thank you for sharing that, Lil.

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  12. Gothic to me has always been about atmosphere - a place of shadows and secrets, where even if the sun is shining, things feel...hidden. And secrets, secrets everywhere.

    Sounds like a fabulous book, Doug. Congrats!

    Mary/Liz

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  13. Hello Doug. Thank you for the post this morning. If this is a taste of what Fogland Point offers, I'm on board! Can't wait. I tend to make my reading choices by author rather than genre. If an author takes me down a path that has elements of something gothic I'm fine with it, to a point. I agree with Hallie though, don't go to woo-woo on me. Thanks again and congratulations on the book.

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  14. Even though I don't seek out the Gothic mysteries, they are very often hugely satisfying reads. The atmospheric quality is what appeals to me most, I think. Fogland Point sounds great.

    Doug, your description of your grandmother "moving through time at random" is striking, and teases my own sense of wonder at the phenomenon of dementia. So many of us have dealt with, or will deal with, family members with that disease, and this description offers a glimpse into a positive aspect of slipping memory--a way to revisit other times. I hesitate to use the term silver lining, but you could choose to view it that way, which would help ease some of the pain of losing the loved one to the mists of time.

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    1. Yes, so agree. It's fascinating, too ,because the only way to grasp that-- is if you are not experiencing it.

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    2. I really appreciate that, Karen. There are few silver linings with dementia, but the closer you get to it the more you realize that not all the terrors are as great as you thought.

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  15. Welcome Doug, and I'm moving your book toward the top of the pile!

    I've been to Rhode Island only once, staying in a 100+ year old cottage on Point Judith, looking out over the pond to an uninhabited island. It was about as gothic as you can get. Add to that the fog and reading SHUTTER ISLAND at the time, and you get what I mean. I look forward to recreating that feeling when I read FOGLAND POINT.

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    1. WHoa. Shutter Island--perfect gothic, right? (and you certainly know how to plan a creepy day!)

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    2. I bet I know where that cottage is! My grandparents rented one just like it, same spot, in a sort of summer colony. And btw, SHUTTER ISLAND scared the death out of me. My personal apex of dread was being stuck in a hotel in Bermuda during a hurricane reading THE SHINING.

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    3. It’s called the Montgomery cottage. There are several in a row, down a dirt road,sitting high over the water.

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    4. And I’m halfway through the book! Should be asleep by now but can’t stop reading

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  16. I had to look up Southern Gothic on Wikipedia, to discover that I had read many of the writers, at least some of the writing of some of the most famous authors. Faulkner, et al. However, to me, the most fascinating part of the post was about dementia. I have two wedding pictures of my paternal grandfather. I haven’t done the math, but he looks to be my age presently. Strong and virile. I was about three years old in one of the pictures. Somewhere between that photo and less than seven years when I was to turn 10, he had sunk into dementia. His oldest daughter, Una, lived into her mid-nineties. She was much older at the end than my dad’s father but at the end, she wouldn’t eat except when coaxed and was almost lost in her own silence. She retained an acerbic wit. Once in her presence, my step-mother, bad-mouthed another sibling of hers, complaining that she was stingy. My aunt Una came back and said, “There are givers and there are takers. I was a taker. I took the kids (nieces and nephews, she had no children of her own) to the theater, to the museums, to the orchestra, to the ballet.” It was a marvelous comeback and evidence that she wasn’t as far gone as she might seem.

    I think about this a lot these days. I cannot believe how many things, recent and far gone, that I can’t remember. I have to write everything down and still, I don’t remember. Right now, it’s just a nuisance, but I face the future with a certain amount of dread.

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    1. Oh, that is so brilliant. And touching. And I worry, too--but I think our brains are just full, and worrying makes them fuller.

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    2. I worry, too, David, having lost both my parents to different types of dementia. However, they both lived into their mid-nineties, so there are some good genes in there, too.

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    3. I know that dread too. But one comfort I have is the fact that my family still tell the stories of those who have been gone for decades. We keep them alive through the memories.

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  17. I love love love a good gothic. And it sounds like Doug has written a great one. I've been experiencing a little bit of unreliable narrator fatigue lately, but gothic novels come by their unreliable narrators honestly! Can't wait to read it.

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  18. Hank, what a wonderful introduction! I've seen your blurbs recently. I wondered about what happens behind the scenes. I often discover new authors through blurbs on novels by my favorite authors.

    Doug Burgess, welcome to Jungle Reds! Was Brown University named after your family? I wonder if you grew up living in a 200 year old house? My cousins grew up in a house (Chicago suburbs) that was built in the 1800s! Because I grew up in California, it is very unusual to see anything built in the 1800s still standing. My grandparents used to own Normandie Village on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. Sadly, it is no longer there. I think it was built in the 1920s if not before then. When I was studying abroad in England, our class visited a lady whose family lived in the same house since the 1500s!!! I love older houses, which is unusual, considering that I grew up in modern California. LOL

    Your book sounds fascinating! I'm adding your book to my reading pile. When I see the word "gothic", I think of haunted houses and ghosts. Perfect for Halloween!

    Diana

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    1. Hi Diana! Yes I'm actually related through my grandmother to both John Brown (Brown U) and Moses Brown (the prep school), who were brothers. There's a wonderful book called Sons of Providence that tells the story of their lives.

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    2. Hi Douglas! Thanks! I'll look for a copy of Sons of Providence. Diana

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  19. Like Kristopher, I think back fondly to the days when I read every gothic novel I could get my hands on. I was so entranced with Doug's description of his own family and the surrounding Rhode Island setting that I know I would love this book, and I promptly put it on my TBR list. Thanks for introducing us to this writer and book, Hank!

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  20. Fogland Point sounds captivating and unforgettable. I enjoy Gothic novels since they are unique and transport me to another era which is always fascinating. I enjoyed this interesting post and Doug sounds talented and creative. Best wishes.

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  21. Doug, I loved reading your post this morning. I've had a couple of family members with dementia, and your description of "transcending the fragile bonds of past and present" is spot on. Was it challenging to write the parts of the book that dealt with dementia? Or maybe was it cathartic? I can't wait to read it!

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    1. Oh, I'd love to hear about that, too..

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    2. It was certainly both, though I think it became less difficult and more cathartic as the writing progressed. At first I felt a kind of reticence at relating what were, in effect, very intimate scenes from my own life with my grandmother. I had to tell them, in order to keep the story as real as possible, yet I often imagined her reaction if she had read them in print--not to mention the reactions of my other family who are very much alive. Now that the book is out, it is interesting to see how they DID react; in most cases, they were delighted to recognize anecdotes, and many said it was as if my grandmother came alive again in that moment.

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  22. Sounds interesting. Congrats on the debut!

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  23. Whoa, fabulous is right, Hank! If the book is half as interesting as this post it will be fantastic. I grew up in the Midwest, which seemed boring compared to the East Coast with its history (and an ocean) and the West Coast with its adventure (and an ocean) and the South with all its scary mystery and those fabulous accents, but I could relate to the feeling of the past being right there with us as I read the post today. We did not have new and shiny things and the way my mother and grandmother talked about WWII or living in Chicago, which seemed far away and foreign, it felt like it was happening. I'm not sure we ever actually acknowledged dementia except to say, "Oh don't pay attention to him/her. They're old." Can't wait to read Fogland Point.

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    1. xoxx it is! And yes, isn't it fascinating to think of another way of looking at it?

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  24. When I read Gothic novels I become immersed within the pages. The characters, their lives and the setting makes the story come alive. Fogland Point is a winner since it evokes strong feelings of family and the area. Congratulations!

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  25. Hi, Doug! I loved your post this morning. I grew up on Gothics, although mine tended more towards the English variety. But I love that sense of atmosphere and the loosening of the bonds of time. It happens with dementia, and it happens when people are close to death, a kind of altered state. When my grandmother was dying, she had long conversations with one of her dead sisters, the one with whom she'd always had a difficult and bitter relationship. I couldn't follow all of it, but she seemed to be working out issues that had bothered her since her childhood. It was sad, of course, especially as I was very close to her, but even at the time I thought it was fascinating.

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    1. I witnessed very similar scenes with my grandmother, so I can absolutely relate to that altered state you describe. In fact there's even a scene in the novel where David, the narrator, is close to death and has a similar vision. I wrote it after one of my cousins was released from the hospital and swore his deceased grandfather came to visit him there.

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  26. Welcome, Doug! As a CT Yankee myself, I LOVE New England Gothic and am excited to dive into your book. I've lived in AZ for two decades now, and I am always amazed at the "tear it down and rebuild it" mentality. Back east if you want to open a Dunkin' Donuts, you do it in the 1787 building that's already there but add a drive thru window. I generally have a hard time with unreliable narrators, because I find them unsympathetic, but a grandmother with dementia adds so many layers of emotion. I think you may have found the one unreliable narrator I can embrace. Congrats on your debut!

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    1. Thanks, Jenn! I live in Brooklyn now myself, which has a hybrid personality halfway in between tear down/rebuild and preservation. Most of the historic buildings on my block have been gutted, so those beautiful old brownstone facades now mask office buildings, condos, etc. But at least the streets still look pretty. As an aside to an aside, I'm absolutely loving all the commentary about my "unreliable narrator." He certainly is, but he's also at least 65% me. I think I'm going to have "unreliable narrator" listed on my next set of business cards!

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    2. That would be hilarious! ANd maybe the beginning of your next book..xoxo

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  27. I don't read many Gothics currently, when I do I find them to be a piquant flavoring to my reading stew. Fogland Point is on the list. My mother had a traumatic brain injury which mirrored dementia. She didn't move around in time as much as deny a present reality. She would long to go to a favorite seaside village, then state this was not it as it did not look like the 1940's memory snap shot. The hardest, I am sure many can identify with me, was when she forgot that I was her daughter. Al least, she still liked me. Thanks for including some positives regarding dementia in your post this morning; food for thought.

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    1. Thank you for sharing that, Coralee. I remember when my grandfather came to visit his wife in the nursing home. He was 99 and she was 98. She had no idea who he was, and when he said "It's Donald," her face lit up and she said "Oh! My husband's name was Donald!" Broke all our hearts.

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    2. Ohhhh....both of your are breaking mine. But it's so fascinating --I know, in denial---trying to understand it.

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  29. Thank you all for these wonderful comments and insights. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have and I'll do my best to answer them!

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  30. When my Grandmother was in the late eighties, she mostly started just talking about was her childhood in Terre Haute, Indiana. She grew up with her six brothers and sisters in a wonderful old house there. One of my favorite stories that she told was the time that she pushed her brother's friend Fatty Fisher down the clothes chute -- she was very pleased with herself. Sometimes, though, she would come up with some mean and unfriendly comments and views, but thankfully that was rare. There was just no more filter from the brain to the lips anymore. I also had a friend whose Grandmother suffered from dementia, and she would get up late at night and try to call her deceased siblings. My friend's Mom made a poster with her Grandmother's siblings' and friends' names and next to them wrote "dead" or "alive" and put it right by the phone ~ Thanks for visiting Jungle Reds and sharing your book with us.

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    1. It's incredible how stories like that resonate. We did exactly the same thing with my grandmother: she had a chart next to the phone with all our names and numbers, and then a list of people that she could no longer call. I even put that list in the book.

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    2. Oh, Celia. And Doug, too... both of them must have been so grateful. Imagine the pressure you took away!

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  31. Doug, I was fascinated by your piece here, and I know if your writing here already has me intrigued that reading Fogland Point will be a great treat. And, there is the whole thing of me loving fog and fog being in the title. Anything can happen in a fog, whether on the ground or in one's mind. Family history has always been a big part of my life, too, not only with my Daniel Boone connection, but with going to the cemetery on Memorial Day as a child with my parents and hearing about family buried there. I think that my parents would be glad to know that those trips made a positive impression on me. My grandparents were all dead by the time I was born, so it was up to my parents to impart family history to me.

    And, I do love a good Gothic novel. I remember taking down The Mistress of Mellyn from the book shelf at home when a teen and falling in love with the shadowy, sprawling world of Mount Mellyn in Cornwall. I may have cut my mystery reading teeth on Agatha Christie, but Victoria Holt first opened the door to loving the suspense of mystery.

    So, congratulations on your novel, Doug. It's definitely going on my TBR list and review list.

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    1. Thank you, Kathy! Now I have to go read Victoria Holt myself...

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    2. Interesting question, Hank. Mary Stewart hold up very well, I think. I just reread one and loved it even more than I remembered, looking at it now from a writerly point of view as well as a reader's. I'll put rereading Victoria Holt on my list...

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    3. Hank, I think it would be a nice treat to go back and read a little Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. Of course, I don't know when I'll find the time. All these authors and their new books keep preventing me from re-reading anything. Hahaha!

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    4. Debs, what Mary Stewart did you just reread?

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  32. I used to read Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. Lena Gregory has a Gothic series that has a very Mary Stewart feel. My grandfather had dementia and got lost a block from his house. Since he died when I was in second grade, I only found out about it later.

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  33. AND THE WINNER IS: Margie Bunting! Margie, email me at hryan at whdh dot com with your address!

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