The below is an intro to a Kindle Book written by Tami Jaegel, Andes Public Library Assistant Librarian.  The novel will be available soon.

By Tami Jaegel

generations separated by years but united by pain. Both women learn that fear is a prison and how they choose to break free from it can be deadly.

Greta-1945

Shavertown 1945

Greta Ellway, a young married woman, learns that her beautiful daughter Vicki will not grow into a functioning adult, she will be dependent on others her whole life. After hearing the diagnosis, her mother-in-law withdraws from her granddaughter and looks at Vicki with loathing and disgust. With her husband at war in Europe, and her mother-in-law pressuring her to give up the child, Greta is frightened and longs for her husband’s return. After receiving a telegram announcing his death in the last few days of he war, Greta feels unable to cope. Stumbling around in a haze of grief, she holds on tight to her daughter.

Shavertown 1954

As a final blow, Greta receives a notice informing her that her home will be destroyed to put in a reservoir. The house that holds all her memories of her husband will no longer be there to comfort her. She can’t go back home to her parents as their home will also be destroyed after generations of working and loving the land. Everything surrounding her and anchoring her will be ripped away. She looks at her neighbors and sees the same hopelessness and fear. In her desperation, Greta makes a choice that will ruin her entire family.

Juliet – Present Day

Juliet McClintock, a recent retiree, returns to her childhood home in Downsville after her mother’s death. She decides to volunteer at the local historical society to keep herself busy. Her bossy older sister Ada also volunteers at the historical society. Their relationship is uneasy as Ada is resentful that Juliet

was appointed executor of their parent’s estate and was awarded the house. Juliet has a difficult time standing up to Ada when it matters. A bright spot in her life comes unexpectedly when Juliet meets Eric, a handsome, caring man. She feels an immediate connection and senses Eric feels the same.

Her sister Ada however, shamelessly throws herself at Eric in an attempt to take his attention away from Juliet just because she can.

In going through donations to the Historial Society, Juliet finds a diary that makes some outstanding claims. To confirm what was in the diary, Juliet asks for a tour of the Gatehouse of the Reservoir. She was refused and treated with suspicion. When Eric finds out what she asked for, he becomes cold and distant towards her.

Her problems only get worse when on her watch during a school field trip to the Reservoir, some of the students find human bones in the dirt that have been exposed by the drought. Because of her previous request to tour the Gatehouse, Juliet is questioned more severely than the other witnesses.

As Juliet is trying to take all this in, an elderly, feisty, retired New York City lawyer shows up at the Historical Society claiming to know who the bones belong to and Juliet’s hopes of a leisurely retirement go down the drain.

To further complicate matters when Juliet reviews the pictures of the tour of the Board Water Supply records for the historical society, she finds something hidden that was supposed to stay hidden. As suspicions mount against Juliet, she is forcefully and dramatically taken into custody and treated like a terrorist. Juliet disappears in the quagmire of National Security and Eric’s superior refuses to tell him where she is being held. When Eric discovers what Juliet found in the Board Water Supply records, he knows if he can’t find her soon, she will be gone forever.~

Pepacton Reservoir today