Burning Marguerite - Paperback

by Elizabeth Inness-Brown (Author)

One winter morning James Jack Wright finds ninety-four-year-old Marguerite Deo--the woman he has always known as "Tante"--lying dead in the woods outside his cabin, clad only in a flowered nightgown. With this arresting scene, Elizabeth Inness-Brown ushers readers into her mysterious and lyrical narrative, the story of two closely braided lives that forces a reconsideration of our notions of maternity, loyalty, love, and perhaps death itself.

Front Jacket

One winter morning James Jack Wright finds ninety-four-year-old Marguerite Deo--the woman he has always known as "Tante"--lying dead in the woods outside his cabin, clad only in a flowered nightgown. With this arresting scene, Elizabeth Inness-Brown ushers readers into her mysterious and lyrical narrative, the story of two closely braided lives that forces a reconsideration of our notions of maternity, loyalty, love, and perhaps death itself.
As James Jack sets out to fulfill Marguerite's unusual last wishes, the narrative unveils the secrets of their pasts. It arcs from Depression-era New Orleans to a barren New England island at the turn of the century, from an illicit passion and an unforgivable crime to the relationship between a small boy and a tough, reclusive woman who turns out to possess an unsuspected capacity for love.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Inness-Brown is the author of two acclaimed collections of short stories, Satin Palms and Here. Raised in the North Country of New York State, she now teaches writing at Saint Michael's College and lives with her husband and young son on South Hero, an island in Lake Champlain, Vermont.