MEDFORD, N.J., March 6, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Nothing exciting hardly ever happened in the peaceful little rural town of Overlook, New Hampshire, in the foothills of the White Mountains; nothing as exciting as, say, a bank robbery. That just could not happen here. It was something that only one would read about in the Boston newspapers. Then one brutal winter in 1935, the horrifying secret of Mason's Pond was exposed. What could this secret be that would literally threaten this sedate town's very well-being? Unravel the mystery in Elwyn Dearborn's intriguing novel, I Witness and Wait.
Dearborn's new work of fiction, I Witness and Wait, is a distinct departure from his former award-winning published work. It focuses on the coming-of-age of an intelligent, mature-for-his-age, fourteen "goin' on fifteen" year-old boy growing up in a small (population: 997) New Hampshire town. His story climaxes during the last months of 1934-1935 when the boy is accused of the brutal murder of his young and beguiling schoolteacher. The story involves a wide range of characters in this fictitious small town who lived in relative prosperity until the "War to End All Wars," having just endured the Great Depression and gotten through economic recovery under F.D.R. leading up to World War II. How these town folks enjoy life and earn their living provides the background panorama against which this fascinating novel is told.
This "brilliant" novel unravels a mystery, which takes place in the 1930s -- where crime of any kind, let alone a brutal sex murder, could hardly be imagined by the people who lived in this sedate little town in the shadow of New Hampshire's White Mountains. But it did happen. This, then, is the nostalgic tale. A gripping thriller, excitingly written with well-developed characters, I Witness and Wait is a must read for anyone, young and old. "Truly a masterpiece!" reads the advanced praise on the dust jacket of this book.
About the Author
The eighty-something year-old author of I Witness and Wait has spent a multi-faceted career in the arts; first and foremost perhaps, in the theatre as a director and playwright. As director of theatre he worked on the critically acclaimed Broadway revival stage production of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms; also, at numerous community and summer theatres around the country he directed or produced more than two hundred plays and musicals. As a fledgling playwright he was one of the first to be invited to join the famed New Dramatists' Committee in New York City. In addition he has authored five full-length plays, all of which have been professionally produced. Following his retirement in 1998 from a forty-something year career in the theatre, he owned and operated a successful gallery of art in Portland, Maine, for more than a decade. Since then he is devoted full time to travel and writing. Although I Witness and Wait is Elwyn Dearborn's first novel he is also the author of the critically acclaimed, prize-winning book entitled The Down East Printmaker, Carroll Thayer Berry, the definitive work on the subject published by Down East Books, Camden, Maine. For this scholarly work he was awarded the highly coveted Book Builders of Boston, New England Book Show Award in 1983. Mr. Dearborn has a BS degree in English-History-Psychology from the University of New Hampshire where upon graduation he received the prestigious honorary Tau Kappa Alpha Award. He studied for his Masters degree at Columbia University in Comparative Literature with creative writing as his major course of study.
I Witness and Wait by Elwyn Dearborn
Publication Date: June 10, 2006
Trade Paperback; $21.99; 289 pages; 1-4257-1328-9;
Cloth Hardback; $31.99; 289 pages; 1-4257-1329-7
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