When we were getting ready to release Bryony back in 2011, my daughter Sarah (who did a lot of the marketing for me) suggested I pull thirty teaser quotes from the book that she could post on Facebook, one each day.
BRYONY MARSEILLES
CHAPTER 1: WORM IN THE APPLE
"It's
far from ideal, especially in her condition," Algernon said as he and
Galien spread out blankets in thick layers. "But it wouldn't do to have
you at the parsonage, you understand."
Galien nodded and stacked the satchels against the wall on top of the first layer.
"Not that I have any objection," Algernon quickly added. "But my sister keeps house for me, and you know how women's tongues can wag."
To Adele's delight, Galien blushed again, quite deeply red this time
CHAPTER
2: THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH
On
clear days, Galien ventured to the general store for Belinda Drake's coffee and
news. On stormy days, he and Adele stayed close by the fire, reading, studying,
journaling, drinking tea, and ignoring the desperate howls of starving wolves.
Yet at the end of the day, regardless of weather, Galien knew no finer recreation than lying across the sofa, no pillow more luxurious than Adele’s soft lap, and no angel’s hymn sweeter than Adele’s voice as she read aloud from Chaucer.
CHAPTER
3: BREATH OF LIFE
She was the lake, and the lake was she.
From deep beyond deep, it called to
her from depths, and her chest rose and fell its answer. Sometimes its waves
were gentle and easy; sometimes they were short and choppy; sometimes they were
rapid, harsh, and heaving with spume.
CHAPTER
4: BABY STEPS.
They fled with little more than the clothes they were wearin', on a stolen wagon and stolen horses, sick horses that died where they fell.
So they'd walked the rest of the
way. Wasn't the first time.
Mister Munson didn't want
particulars. He jest stood there, grinnin' under his bushy mustache as he
pushed back his cowboy hat and askin' the one question that made all the
diff'rens: Are you willin' to work?
And Sebbie, drunker than a skunk on
the Fourth of July with the last of their pilferin's, had hung his head, which
made him look shorter than what he was, and said, "Yes."
Then Mister Munson slapped his back
and said, "Welcome to Munsonville."
The look on Sebbie's face as he
slowly looked up...it was the first and only time she'd seen tears in her husband's
eyes.
It was also the first and only time
anyone ever welcomed them. Mostly, people put boot toes up their asses.
CHAPTER
5: A MOST PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE
Dr. Stone snickered and shook his head in a pitying way, while tapping his ashes against the tray. "Come, come, Algernon. You speak of Man's nobility in the same breath as a cast-off rib."
"You can't deny some women complement their husbands in terms of intelligence, diligence, and temperance," Professor Clarke addressed the group, but his gaze rested on Dr. Stone. "Man's mission to the world is enhanced when the rib fits perfectly. Much like the glass slipper on Ashputtel, wouldn't you agree, Sebastian?"
"I
wouldn't know anything about it," Mr. Betts said glumly, which caused all
the men to laugh.
CHAPTER
6: THE MYSTERIOUS, MIRACULOUS MEDICAL BAG
"So Dr. Gothart," Dr. Sidney Stone said, and Bryony sat attention. "What's the latest from Europe?"
"The debunking of bloodletting for most conditions...finally."
A low rumbling of male voices responded and then silence. Bryony learned forward as much she dared.
"Come, come, Dr. Gothart," Dr. Stone said. "You don't propose to abandon clinical experience and empirical observation for the theories of pathology and physiology?"
"Microscopes and their specimens don't lie."
"Neither does clinical experience and empirical observation."
CHAPTER
7: DOUBLE VISION
Bryony grabbed a spoon and started on the bite-sized pieces of beef, drenched in a puddle of their blood. They were raw, messy, so unlike the white pureness of fish.
CHAPTER
8: THE DARK SIDE OF PROGRESS
"Miss Daisy, we had plenty of meat. Any critters sneaking into our basement and hoping to winter with us was skewered and roasted over the fire. That job fell to your Grandpa Clyde, because he kept losing at checkers."
Grandpa
Clyde snickered and slid his hat over his face.
"Finally,
the only item left in the cellar was a burlap sack."
"A body!" Daisy cried excitedly.
"Watermelon
seeds!"
CHAPTER
9: THE DREADED CURSE BEGINS
Mrs. Parks gasped and dropped the plates, scattering food and fragments everywhere. Reverend dashed to the coat rack. Bryony flew after him and grabbed her cloak.
Reverend whirled around. "Daughter, what are you doing?"
"Going with you."
"Absolutely not!"
"Try and stop me, Father!"
To her amazement, Reverend sighed as
he accepted his bag from Mrs. Parks, who had scuttled to his office to retrieve
it.
"Very well, Bryony, but I'm
warning you. A man's sick room is not a romantic place to be."
CHAPTER
10: CHILLED
Cyrus
demanded an inn. Sebastian didn't object; no one did.
"I
promised to make Munsonville grow," Sebastian said. "And I am."
"You
are," Reverend agreed.
Damn
him.
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