New River Mist

New River Mist is the second novel in a series set against the incredible beauty of the New River Gorge in West Virginia. In New River Mist, the story of the widow Sadie Langley continues from book 1 - New River Rising - as she continues her career in the world of technology and seeks to overcome the stifling family objections to her reckless desire for Duff Bennett. Sadie turned away from her passionate indiscretions of her young life where she defied local conventions by loving a married man and paying a heavy price. She is a risk taker who is now afraid of risk and lives in a world with many self-imposed boundaries that limit her life. With the return of Duff Bennett, she finds herself in conflict with her family and with Duff's ex-wife, but she is encouraged when an old secret reveals a way to ease her self-doubt about commitment, family, and mid-life loneliness, Duff continues to be the linchpin in all her relationships with her children and family, and he is an anchor when Sadie tests the limits of her friendship with Blanche Abrams as Blanche finds her own life in crisis and both women cheerfully abandon their dignity enough to investigate the woman who is stealing Blanche's husband. Together Sadie and Blanche face the challenge with courage and humor.
In New River Mist, Sadie makes life choices that re-awaken her sensuality and enrich her life as she contends with the judgement of each generation including her parents, siblings and her adult children. Through their eyes, Sadie is willful and outrageous and even her children see her as comically too old for passion and romance.
This is a love story of men and women in a rustic, nature-filled setting where a walk in the garden can end in death, and where mountain beliefs mean that primitive cures are used alongside modern medicine when the family is plagued by the copperhead Ramaa who attacks and then moves stealthily into their home to attack again from the darkness beneath their furniture.
The New River stories explore the adrenalin rush of each contortion and splash of rafting the river itself as well as the intricate and complex relationships within couples, families, and communities and the effect on lives lived on the brink from collapsing coal mines, rock falls, gas explosions and. high explosives that are a daily part of living alongside the tumultuous and savagely beautiful whitewater of New River. It is life along the river with glimpses of moonshiners, coon hunters, rafters, and very tall tales of woods creatures. It is also the story of tolerance and acceptance and the many instances of love that each of us hopes to encounter on our journey through life.