Women’s Fiction
Date Published: May 26, 2018
The water that surrounds Oriental, N.C. a5racts people who need to heal. In Heather Cobham’s debut novel, Hungry Mother Creek, Maya Sommers landed in Oriental reeling from the trauma of Hurricane Katrina and the death of her husband. Now, Sloan Bostwick, a successful realtor from Raleigh, returns there in hopes of regaining the peace she experienced during the summers with her grandparents. Sloan purchases the oldest home in the county with plans to create a retreat center. Unbeknownst to Sloan, part of her property contains the Mother Tree, a live oak, where for over a hundred years, women have gathered. It was here, with the help of her women’s circle, that Maya recovered from her husband’s death.
Maya and Sloan’s lives intersect over the fate of the Mother Tree when the women’s circle rallies the community to protect the sacred tree. Travis, the handsome kayak guide Maya had a brief affair with, joins their efforts and Maya’s feelings for him are reignited. Will Travis fill the sense of yearning she’s had the past few months? What’s standing between her and true happiness? Meanwhile Sloan must admit that wounds from her childhood are still festering, waking her every night and distracting her from the retreat center.
Though Maya and Sloan clash over the fate of the Mother Tree, they have more in common than they realize. Join them on the banks of the Neuse River as the wisdom of women, past and present, helps Maya and Sloan transform their suffering into resilience.
Excerpt:
Maya
took her coffee bean freeze and went to the high top table at the back. Because
of the heat this morning, she hadn’t been able to think about hot coffee. The
dull headache began around noon, letting her know she needed a caffeine
infusion so she headed to The Bean, the quaint coffee shop right across from
Oriental’s public dock. Bay was working again today and Maya thought she’d take
her up on her invitation to stop by and visit her at Marsha’s cottage. She’d
even brought some money in case Bay helped her pick something out.
Maya hadn’t brought anything to read and
leaned back against the wall to people watch. The coffee slushy slid down
easily, cooling her off and satisfying her caffeine addiction. The door opened
and in walked a woman with a miniature version of herself that must be her
daughter. The woman was a few years older then Maya and the little girl about 7
or 8. They stood in front of the cooler deciding what flavor of ice cream to
have. The mother stood behind the little girl, her hands on her shoulders. She
leaned in and whispered something to the little girl who giggled. The sound of
the child’s laugh was contagious and Maya smiled. She continued to watch as
they took their ice cream cones to a table close to the door. The mother was
affectionate with her daughter, holding her hand, tousling her hair, putting an
arm around her shoulder. Their heads leaned towards one another and they took
bites of each other’s ice cream. They laughed at their sticky hands and noses.
It seemed like there was no place they’d rather be then here together.
Maya’s eyes filled with tears and she
looked away. She’d never felt that type of intimacy with her mother. She couldn’t
even recall a time she and her mother went somewhere together unless it was to
the doctor, dentist or some other necessary appointment. She definitely didn’t
have a memory of going to an ice cream parlor together. If they had, her mother
wouldn’t have gotten ice cream because it was fattening and she would have
wiped Maya’s hands every few minutes to keep them from getting sticky.
Maya twirled a piece of hair that escaped
her ponytail and looked out the window at the boats tied up at town dock. She
felt empty in the pit of her stomach, a homesick feeling, a longing for something
she’d never had. And then she thought of Lilith’s hugs and playfulness, Hazel’s
understanding, Violet’s nurturing, the feeling of connection and acceptance
sitting in front of the Mother Tree alone and with the circle. At 39 she was
being mothered by other women and by nature. Maybe it didn’t always have to
come from your biological mother, she thought. She looked back at the woman and
her daughter, now standing to leave, and couldn’t help but wonder how different
her life would have been if her mother hadn’t been depressed. Would her mother
have provided the love and acceptance Maya craved? If she’d gotten these things
from her mother when she was young, would she have ever married someone like
Steven?
About the Author
Heather W. Cobham is the author of the duology, Hungry Mother Creek and The Mother Tree. She is a licensed clinical social worker and has her own counseling practice in New Bern North Carolina. The strength and resilience of her clients, provides inspiration for the protagonists in her books. Heather lives by the water in Oriental, N.C. and maintains her own health and balance by spending time with her husband, running, paddle boarding, yoga and reading.
Contact Links
Instagram:@heatherwcobham
Purchase Link
Sounds like a great read, thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful cover and I enjoyed the synopsis and excerpt, this sounds like a wonderful read. Thank you for sharing the book and author details.
ReplyDelete