August 18, 1828. A wealthy farmer, Jacob Hicks, dies. His friend, Squire Richard Holt, testifies that, on his deathbed, the deceased disinherited his four daughters and named his son, Maris, as his sole beneficiary. In a naive attempt to invalidate the questionable will by eliminating the witness, two disgruntled family members independently fire at the squire. One shot finds its mark. James Daunt, one of the shooters, is seen and accused of the murder. As a posse closes in on him, he is rescued by Sally Morley, an unconventional young woman. She spirits him away to a liberal, utopian community led by Thaddeus Goodenough, a controversial, Bible-quoting preacher who advocates common property and free love. Although James is married to Jacob's pretty daughter, Margaret, he is attracted to the idiosyncratic Sally. Their relationship grows as he is assimilated into Pleasant Valley Farm. However, the threat of capture and death by hanging is ever-present, and with the widespread publication of his description and the offer of a reward, he realizes no refuge is safe for him. James is forced to flee, leaving Sally to deal with her past as well as with the consequences of their passionate love affair. Esther Hicks Latch, Jacob's oldest daughter, is the second shooter. She falls during her flight from the scene and is seriously injured. Her physical and mental health deteriorates as the fallout from the murder of Richard Holt reverberates around the shooters and ensnares those who are close to them. Esther's husband, Elias, becomes obsessed with capturing James. Her brother, Maris, faces a legal challenge to the verbal will and acts to ensure his inheritance against the efforts of his siblings to overturn the testimony in court. While trying to save James' soul, the Reverend Goodenough is compelled to evaluate his own truths. Reverberation, The Novel, is a story of love and friendship, greed and survival set amid the changing social, religious and philosophical mores of early nineteenth-century America.
About the Author: A lifelong resident of the East Coast, the author has worked as an editor, writer, researcher and artist. Author's note: When reading about the first half of the nineteenth century, it is interesting to note the similarities between issues of earlier times and those of today. The formation of political parties stimulated the use of surrogates and encouraged slanderous campaign rhetoric that has developed into a twenty-first century art form. Nascent interest in women's rights, abortion, racial discrimination and injustice energized the formation of sympathetic support groups which now carry political, social and economic weight. Radical religious leaders and their power to attract followers led to manifestations of social change, many of which are accepted as the norm today. Awareness of these issues affected the development of Reverberation, The Novel. In spite of these influences, the story line basically remains the tale of two people who committed a crime and what happens to them as a result.