Since You Went Away, Part Three: Summer
Nan McCarthy
(Rainwater Press, 2019) 216 pages
F I C T I O N
School’s out but the Mahoney family’s summer is anything but lazy. As they inch closer to the halfway point of Liam’s year-long deployment to Iraq, tensions heighten each time he goes outside the wire, challenging Emilie’s ability to keep it together. Meanwhile Finn and Rory find themselves in some unorthodox situations, providing comic relief for the makeshift family Emilie has assembled in Liam’s absence.
Wade and Isabel’s marriage is on the rocks again, even as Wade makes strides toward personal recovery with the help of the VA and a strong support network. Aunt Dottie’s boyfriend Joey struggles with retirement as his memories of the Vietnam War and a troubled past resurface. Danger closes in on Fakhir’s family in Baghdad as they anxiously await their visas. Unexpected events prompt Fakhir to confide in Emilie, revealing his secrets one morsel at a time. And when it comes to secrets, Agnes shares some whoppers that blow everyone’s preconceptions to pieces.
Propelled by a plot that accelerates with each turn of the page, Since You Went Away portrays in intimate detail the effects of a distant war on the families and returning veterans at home. At once poignant and darkly funny, it is a fly-on-the-wall account of the innermost workings of a military family—their fears and hopes, their struggles and disappointments, their unexpected moments of joy and comfort and laughter.
This is Part Three of a novel released in four parts.
C O M I N G S O O N: Part Four: Fall.
about the author:
Nan McCarthy is the author of the Since You Went Away series, Chat, Connect, & Crash, Live ‘Til I Die, and Quark Design. The Chat, Connect & Crash series, originally self-published, was acquired by Simon & Schuster and published in trade paperback in 1998. Nan regained the rights to the series and released new editions in 2014. A former magazine editor & technology writer, Nan founded Rainwater Press in 1992 and began selling her books online in 1995. Nan and her husband, a veteran who served 29 years in the Marine Corps, are the proud parents of two adult sons. Nan wrote Since You Went Away after taking a ten-year break from full-time writing to care for the family during her husband’s frequent military travels.
Cover design by David J. High, High Design.
Cover art by GreyLilac (lily pads & flower) + JBOY (dragonflies) / Shutterstock.
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New! The Since You Went Away series is now available from bookstores, libraries, & other retailers via Ingram distribution. Ask for the book by name at your local bookseller or library.
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