Monday, July 30, 2007

THE HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA - First Chapter

I'm not usually into horror, but THE HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA by Richard Taylor is unexpectedly charming.

The first chapter works for me. It is a blend of tragedy and humor which, as I stated in an earlier post, is almost irresistible for me. The first line:

"Lily died the day we signed the escrow papers for the bed and breakfast."

The first chapter tells the story of how a young widower lost is wife of only a few hours, from what it sounds like. They did jump into bed too rapidly for my taste, but that was only after months of the man romancing the woman until she no longer wanted to resist. So at least they knew each other.

Once she dies, he is left with the bed and breakfast that they just purchased hours before. It was her dream to run the bed and breakfast. His dream, as he told her, was her.

It has some delightful and touching humor, such as:

"You have a career." (Lily)
"I have a job." (Theo)
"You have a condo."
"It's an apartment with pretension. It has a fireplace and a mortgage. It means nothing."

It's not laugh-out-loud humor, but it shows a light touch that is promising for the rest of the novel.

4 comments:

Robert said...

The author recently contacted me for a review. The book looks promising and I'm looking forward to checking this one out. I'm glad it's starting out well :)

ErinPaperbackstash said...

This one sounds intriguing!

Anonymous said...

Tia,

Thanks for the kind words for my debut novel THE HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA. As TOR has allocated a promotional budget comparable to a standard attention span (it is a debut novel and I do understand), any light directed at the book is very much appreciated.

HAUNTING written to be a long slow curve over home plate. Please let me know if it's a strike.

Same for you, Robert.

Best wishes,

Richard Taylor

Tia Nevitt said...

Thanks, Richard. That's part of the reason I wanted to start this blog.