Lily's Odyssey

by Carol Smallwood

Overview

This psychological detective novel explores the once largely unacknowledged: not only soldiers get post-traumatic stress disorder; that child abuse, whether overt or covert incest, is a time bomb.
Lily's Odyssey unfolds with the inevitability, impact, and resolution of an ancient Greek play. The dialogue rings true, the journey is conveyed with moods and half-tones to portray fragmented Midwestern characters with poignancy. From child to grandmother, Lily's voyage is told with lyricism, humor, and irony through a poet's voice to distill American life in religion, marriage, and family. A contemporary odyssey without maps by a woman short listed for the 2009 Eric Hoffer Award for Best New Writing, a National Federation of State Poetry Societies Award Winner.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012820556
Publisher:	All Things That Matter Press
Publication date:	07/02/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
File size:	272 KB

About the Author

Carol Smallwood’s work has appeared in English Journal, Michigan Feminist Studies, The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, Journal of Formal Poetry, The Writer's Chronicle, The Detroit News, and anthologies. She ‘s a 2010 Short List Finalist, Eric Hoffer Award for Best New Writing; 2009 National Federation of State Poetry Societies Award Winner, and appears in Contemporary Authors; Who’s Who in America. Lily’s Odyssey, her first novel, is her 22nd published book.

Editorial Reviews

Carol Smallwood’s novel is an exquisitely written tale of a woman’s observations and self-analysis. Vignettes of Lily’s life provide the background for her assessment. Smallwood is a poet and editor, and this book evinces her significant abilities. It is a work of art. —Carolyn Davis, author of How to Write Persuasively, for Greenwood Guides to Writing, Greenwood Press, and “Tales from Wales,” for Technicalities.

Carolyn Davis

Lily's Odyssey opens a door on a dark and secret history as Lily slowly unravels the cause of post-traumatic symptoms that disrupt her adult life. With poignant lyricism and clear articulation, author Smallwood portrays the prevalent and far-reaching shame of child abuse and incest, revealing how it cripples each victim and impacts the world. —Janet Muirhead Hill, Kyleah's Tree, finalist, Parmly Billings High Plains Book Award; author of the Miranda and Starlight book series; founder, Rav

Janet Muirhead Hill

Smallwood is an incredibly gifted author with a broad range of experience. She demonstrates commitment to conscience in her work through Michigan Feminist Studies, The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, and Best New Writing 2009. –Sandra Potter, CEO & Founder, Dreamcatchers for Abused Children, http://www.dreamcatchersforabusedchildren.com; co-author, Unnecessary Roughness: Till Death Do Us Part; The Child Abuse Survivor Project.

Sandra Potter

Smallwood is a watcher. Her eyes are unblinking. And her ears can detect the mercurial ticks of a heart. As a storyteller, she’s as sure as any Preakness jockey. She knows when words need to clip-clop up to the gate, when to bide, and when to unfetter them, to let the truth loose. Truth thunders in Lily's Odyssey. –Katie McKy, author of Pumpkin Town, Houghton Mifflin, and Wolf Camp, Tanglewood Press.

Katie McKy