“An older woman growing flowers. A younger woman caught up in the weeds.”
Florida author Christine Lemmon begins her novel, “Sand In My Eyes,” with this statement inscribed on the title page, and it perfectly describes her story of two women, one young and impatient and one old and wise, and how their friendship teaches them both some of the most important things in life. That love, health, faith, patience and happiness are the keys to a happy marriage and family life.
Anna Hott has written a book about her memories of living on Sanibel Island, off the Florida coast. But she feels that she needs the blessing of the woman who influenced her writing, and her life at that time, her former next-door neighbor, Fedelina Aurelio, who is now nearly 100 years old and who Anna finds living in a nursing home.
As Anna begins to share her writing, the memories of that time come flooding back for both women. Anna, a young mother with three very demanding children and a cheating husband, has come to Sanibel looking for some sembelance of peace as she tries to keep her family from coming unglued. Fedelina lived next door, tending her beautiful garden and dispensing advice – advice that often falls on Anna’s selectively deaf ears. But slowly Anna begins to see the older woman’s wisdom and finds herself relaxing and coping with her crazy life a little better.
Then Fedelina’s divorced son comes to visit and upsets the apple cart, awaking emotions in Anna that she had thought long dead. She finds the love of her life, but is conflicted in her loyalty to her family.
The emotional struggles become a conflict between Anna and Fedelina, and they become estranged, an unresolved situation that has never left Anna’s mind. And now she is determined to rectify her wrongs and find her way back to the loving friendship of her old friend.
Christine Lemmon has written a poignant and beautiful tale of friendship, encouragement, and the act of finding one’s true self with “Sand In My Eyes.” This is a powerful novel that will bring peals of laughter and buckets of tears, but finishes with a heart-tugging ending that is rewarding and fulfilling.
About the Author:
Christine Lemmon is the author of three novels -Sanibel Scribbles, Portion of the Sea, and Sand in My Eyes, and the gift book, Whisper from the Ocean. She has lived all over the country writing for radio, newspaper, television and magazine.
She currently lives with her husband and three children on Sanibel Island, a subtropical island off Florida's Gulf Coast, which is the setting for her novels. She gets most of her inspiration while biking, kayaking or walking around the island, and watching sunsets with her family, but then she must hold her ideas until night, when her children are sleeping and she can write.
Check out Christine’s lovely website at www.christinelemmon.com I could sit and listen to the ocean waves for hours.
I received a review copy of “Sand In My Eyes” from the author in exchange for a honest review. I was not compensated for my time.
