Paint, canvas and a peaceful cottage on the Maine coast provide a welcome refuge for Beth LaMonte. A mysterious light intrudes on her peace and leads her to a secret beach where she finds the diary of a girl who disappeared in 1975...

Now Beth is on another mission to not only bury her own past, but to put to rest the spirit of Firefly Beach.

Beth made a cup of herbal tea and sat on the couch, looking out the bay window into a clear evening sky. She noticed the firefly swirling and swooping near the cliff. A sweet sadness resonated in its graceful movements. Beth decided that the firefly was, like herself, a loner, mourning for what had slipped from her hands--or wings, in the case of the firefly--yet filled with hope for what lay ahead. "What are you hoping for, firefly?" she whispered. Then she laughed. "Have I become so pathetic I'm talking to insects?" She stood, collected the mug and coaster from the coffee table, and turned toward the kitchen.

Out of the corner of her eye, Beth saw the firefly zoom at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour, covering the distance in a fraction of a second, flying straight up to the window and then disappearing, dropping out of sight. Slowly Beth turned to face the window, her heart pounding in her ears. She no longer saw the firefly circling near the coast. Except for the waxing moon, it was dark behind the cottage, all the way to the horizon.

Beth shuddered, staring out the window for several minutes. Her face had grown ashen, and her heart continued to pound mercilessly. When she was able to pull herself away, she dashed upstairs, turning on lights as she ran. The creaking of the stairs frightened her so she doubled her speed taking them two at a time. When she reached the bathroom, she shuffled through her cosmetic bag looking for her emergency stash of anti-anxiety medicine.

This is ridiculous. She gazed in the mirror after downing two pills and splashing her face with water. You are a grown woman afraid of the dark...or afraid of a dancing speck of light...Your imagination is playing tricks on you, she thought with some uncertainty. It was a metaphor. Think about it; something about being a lonely firefly going up in a burst of flames. It's just a bunch of nonsense.

After giving herself a good scolding, or more likely, after the anxiety medication began to take effect, Beth tiptoed through the house turning off lights before she cozied up under the covers.

It was nothing, she reminded herself before drifting off into a drug-induced sleep.

Review Companies MR Review
Rating:
Reviewer: IvyD
Review:

When Beth’s mother dies and her marriage falls apart, she makes a complete life change. Quitting her job as controller for a small plastics manufacturer she moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Virginia Point, Maine. Beth has been numb for years and is questioning her ability to feel emotion at all anymore. While packing after the divorce, in preparation to moving to a small luxury condo, she comes across pictures she’d painted years before. In an out of character impetuous move she makes the decision to move to Virginia Point and support herself with her paintings. She locates a shop that agrees to sell her paintings, rents a cottage and drives to Maine. This choice will change not only Beth’s life, but the lives of those she encounters in Virginia Point.

Firefly Beach sneaks up on you subtly, inexorably drawing you in. Before you realize it you’ve read the whole book. Beth’s attempt to recapture her youthful dream and rediscover her capacity for emotion leads to numerous revelations, personal and public. Beth fights not only her own demons but those of the town’s hateful recluse, who just happens to be her landlord, Rod Thompson. At times questioning her own sanity, Beth follows her dreams/nightmares, instinct and a small ball of light, her firefly. With a deft touch Ms. Pentermann has written a lovely moving book about rediscovery, coming to terms, accepting, letting go, and finding peace and yourself again. I highly recommend Firefly Beach.

Disclosure: Manic Readers receives books from authors, publishers, and publicists which are given to reviewers in exchange for their honest opinion. Each review represents the opinion of the reviewer which may or may not have been influenced by receiving the book at no cost.

       No comments available.