When Abigail went to wake her best friend Emily, she had no concept of the nightmarish horror she was about to encounter; unbeknownst to Abigail, Emily suffered from epilepsy, and she was the victim of Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. Emily’s death left a void in Abigail’s life, but Abigail was not the only one affected by the loss. Emily’s longtime boyfriend, Stephen, was shattered by the loss of the girl he planned to marry.
In the years that pass, the two survivors find different ways to cope with their friend’s death. Stephen tries to drown his sorrows in booze, drugs, and meaningless encounters with faceless women; eventually, he pulls his life together, but he finds himself unable to commit to love again. Abigail buries her sadness so deep that even her husband doesn’t fully understand her loss; Abigail herself doesn’t realize how badly she was hurt by the events of her past until she encounters a client with epilepsy through her work in the Department of Children and Families.
Newly pregnant and struggling to deal with her epileptic client, Abigail crosses paths with Stephen once more. Stephen is in a foundering relationship with a caring and supportive nurse, but he finds himself unable to commit to the level that his girlfriend, Carolina, needs and deserves. Through a series of amazing events Stephen and Abigail manage to find peace with the events of that tragic day so long ago as well as the fortitude to continue on the paths that their lives had laid before them. Full of heartbreak and loss but ultimately hope, Surviving Emily is a compelling story that explores the meaning of everlasting friendship and the healing power of love.
Surviving Emily is based on author Laurie Bellesheim’s personal experience with Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy; at the age of 18, Bellesheim lost a close friend to this silent killer. Prior to writing this, her first novel, Bellesheim worked as a social worker with the Department of Children and Families. A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work, Bellesheim resides in rural Connecticut with her husband and their three children.
Rating - PG (no descriptive sex scenes)
Connect with Laurie Bellesheim on Twitter & Facebo
Website http://www.
and other details about the Book Launch Festival
0 comments:
Post a Comment