Newspaper reporter Charlotte
Timberlake plans to write a book comparing past and present treatment for
mental illness. She persuades a doctor to admit her to a state hospital as a
patient.
When unforeseen events make it
impossible for her to leave, she finds herself unable to convince anyone –
those in charge, her children, or ex-husband – she doesn't belong there.
Charlotte soon realizes it is up to her to find a means of escaping the nightmare of her self-condemned prison.
Charlotte soon realizes it is up to her to find a means of escaping the nightmare of her self-condemned prison.
When
Charlotte awoke, her room was dark except for the faint light from the lobby
desk. Her throat felt parched and sore. She was thirsty. She sat up slowly,
feeling groggy and stiff. She walked to the screen door and turned the handle
but it didn't move. She tried again. Then she realized she was locked in. She
shook the door. "Miss Hill," she called softly, so as not to wake the
others. "Miss Hill."
Josephine
Hill stood up from the desk. "What you want, Timberlake?"
"I
want out. I want to get a drink of water."
"I'll
bring you one." She shuffled toward the water fountain, snapped a paper
cup from the holder.
"I
want to use the bathroom, too," Charlotte said, thinking quickly. She had
to get out of this room.
"Okay,
okay. One thing at a time. Here's your water."
Charlotte
took the tiny cup and drained it.
"Okay,
let's go to the john now." Josephine took her arm.
Charlotte
jerked away. "I'll go by myself, thanks."
"No,
you won't, Timberlake. I got orders to keep close by you." Josephine
reached for her arm again, and together they made their way in semi-darkness
past the various sounds of sleeping patients.
"What
time is it?" Charlotte asked as she sat down on the commode.
"You
going somewhere?" Josephine chuckled at her joke, then added, "Nearly
two-thirty."
Sixteen
hours. They had really knocked her out.
Good morning from Kentucky, Readers. I'm excited to have Charlotte's Resurrection released again with a lovely new cover. (Thanks, Livia.) This is not a story to read at bedtime if you want to have sweet dreams. But it is a story to keep you turning pages to see if Charlotte can somehow manage to escape her "self-imposed" entrapment. When a close author friend was reading this book, she emailed me and said, "If you don't let this woman get out of here, you will lost a best friend!" PS: We are still friends. When you read Charlotte's story, I think you will see why she said that.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I was so engrossed in this story. You did a great job of keeping me on the edge of my seat and wondering what in the world was going to happen next. I can see how this might actually happen--that made it all the more real to me. Congratulations on your release of CHARLOTTE'S RESURRECTION!
DeleteThank you for your comments, Cheryl, and for releasing this book again. There is a story behind the story that inspired me to write it. I'll be sharing that online a bit later.
DeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteWowzers. I had a flash of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" meets "Girl, Interrupted" with your excerpt and blurb. Can't wait to hear "the rest of the story". Best of luck.
Would you believe I never saw "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? I was terribly busy with real life about the time it was so popular and somehow never got around to it later. But I did witness enough first-hand to be inspired to create Charlotte. Thanks for your comments and good wishes, Kaye.
DeleteOh, I want to hear the story behind the story, too. I'll be watching for that.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to mislead you, Livia. My story behind the story is not a tale of horror or suspense. In fact, it will add a bit of humor, I think.
DeleteWhy do we do this to ourselves...terrified yet peek through our fingers? This is an excellent excerpt, Linda, that leaves the reader wanting to finish reading your book. The sunny nature of the cover belies the dark menace lurking between the pages.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments, Elizabeth. And you made an astute observation about the cover. This book was first published with a cover that showed Charlotte's desolate state (my suggestion to the cover artist). But with the new release, Livia has focused on the positive rather than the negative and I think it is perfect. I'll be back later with the story behind the story and I hope you'll stop back, too.
DeleteCongratulations, Elizabeth. You are a winner of a copy of Charlotte's Resurrection. You may claim your copy by contacting me at LSwiftR@aol.com
DeleteWhat a delightful surprise, Linda, to win a copy of Charlotte's Resurrection. I didn't realize you were giving away copies. I am so looking forward to reading it and did start a few pages but then life intervened. I will be happy to post a review when I'm done. Thanks!
DeleteHere is the promised STORY BEHIND THE STORY:
ReplyDeleteWhen my two children were in elementary school, I was a stay-at-home mother, and active PTA member. One year I served as Chairwoman of the Mental Health Committee. Our focus was to acquaint the community with services available which included the closest mental hospital. In an effort to educate people about mental illness, current treatment, and remove some of the stigma we offered several all day bus tours to the hospital. (As a result of our program, several local churches became sponsors of certain wards, furnishing canteen cards and other items to the patients.)
As Chairwoman, I conducted those tours and became acquainted with the Director, a few doctors, and some of the workers and patients. One patient in particular touched my heart. She had lived in the women's locked ward since her teens after having a fever that affected her mind. Joy was talkative and followed each group around the ward on each visit. She remembered my name and when she saw our group coming, would stand at the locked iron bars and call out a greeting to me, then hug me fiercely when we were admitted inside.
Fast forward several years after I decided what I wanted to become when I "grew up." I was commuting to a college in another city, working toward a degree in counseling. One of my required courses was Abnormal Psychology and the first week of classes, our professor arranged a tour of the hospital where I had spent time years before. All the other students were under twenty and I knew none of them at this point. When we reached the long hall leading to the women's locked ward, Joy saw me coming a long way off, and began calling my name. And once we got inside, she grabbed me and told me how much she had missed me. The class was awfully quiet as they watched this emotional reunion. And afterward, I thought of trying to explain that I had conducted tours here when they were probably in elementary school. But who would have believed that? Some things you just can't explain.
More time passed and I finally got Charlotte's story out of my head and onto the printed page. By this time my daughter was a Journalism major in college. One day she came home and laid a copy of the Quill Magazine on the table and opened it to an article. It was written by a newspaper reporter who had spent a month as an "undercover patient" in a mental hospital in a neighboring state and then told his experience. I've had this happen before . . . writing a story that someone else is living. Perhaps many of you have also had this happen and if so, I hope you will share it.
A final aside related to Charlotte. I've already mentioned an author friend who threatened our friendship if I didn't get Charlotte out of her "imprisonment." The story, as written, ended with Charlotte on a plane. So I went one better, and wrote an epilogue to make sure my dear friend, Celia Yeary, would have that "happy ever after" ending that she wanted for Charlotte.
Linda, Charlotte's story really touched me. There are so many people who are "locked up in themselves" as Joe Diffie says in his song "Ships That Don't Come In" and we have so far to go to understand much of what they're feeling. That must have thrilled Joy to death to see you again. Brought tears to my eyes when I read this. No wonder you had such insight when you wrote this story about Charlotte.
DeleteThank you, Cheryl, for your comments on Charlotte's story. In the book, I was thinking of Joy when I wrote of other patients, and one actually was very much like I remembered her to be. I think my connection with that hospital had a lot to do with the field I chose when I went to college later on.
DeleteThis is a wonderful story and I am so glad to see it back out where readers can enjoy it once again... Linda Swift has done an excellent job of revealing Charlotte's character, curiosity, and fears as she expertly unwinds this tale.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca. Thank you for your kind words. And thank you also for giving this book its first chance. (And many of my other books as well. I would not be where I am today as a writer if it were not for your acceptance, guidance, and encouragement. You have helped so many of us through PbRJV that you deserve all the credit we can give you.
DeleteLinda, congratulations on this rerelease. Love the cover and it definitely does work to say it's not a dreary type of story. During my college years for nursing, I had a three month stent at a mental health facility. Most people were in lock down and it was a big facility. It was an awakening to say the least. Some residents were scary while others became friends and touched my heart. Now as an author here at PRP, I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing how you did this. I'm sure this story will also touch my heart until the very end. Wishing you much success. Nice to meet you too.
ReplyDeleteHi Beverly, it's nice to meet you, too. And thank you for sharing your experience with a mental health hospital. I hope things have improved greatly since the days of the setting of my story. I will be so interested in your comments after you read Charlotte's Resurrection. I look forward to knowing you better. You can get in touch with your impressions at LSwiftR@aol.com or my FB page.
DeleteLinda, I certainly will get back to you. Am trying to finish my next next historical romance, so it will be a bit of awhile, but hey I have to read my Kindle when I go to the gym, so I manage to get reading in. I cannot live without a book in hand. Again, wishing you much success.
DeleteYes, Beverly, I share your feeling about books. I used to travel with a bag full of books so I do appreciate the convenience of a Kindle but I still try to turn the page instead of clicking! Old habits die hard! I collect bookends and wherever I am, I am surrounded by books. They comfort me.
DeleteCongratulations, Linda. I understood how it must have been for you back in the developmental stage of this story combined with all the things going on in your life. You have a deep story line, so I am impressed with how much you presented in this story.
ReplyDeleteI wish you every success, Linda. I have read several of your stories so I know this is going to be an excellent book.
Hi Sarah, Thank you for your kind words. I guess most mothers have to be multi-taskers to accomplish their dreams. And you and I were on the edge of change for women and I'm not sorry to have been in the midst of that. Your words of praise for my stories can be returned to you about your own work that I have read. Are we a mutual admiration society or what?
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear the story behind your writing, and interesting that you'd never seen 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. This story is refreshingly different and uplifting. Added to my to read list.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by and for your comments. And I hope you will enjoy Charlotte's story when it reaches the top of your TBR list!
DeleteCongratulations, C.A. You are a winner of a copy of Charlotte's Resurrection. You may contact me at LSwiftR@aol.com to claim your book. I hope it will move to the top of your TBR list!
DeleteCongratulations to Elizabeth Clements and C.A. Asbrey, winners of Charlotte's Resurrection in a random drawing of names of all who left comments on this blog. Please contact me to claim your copy. Thanks to all who stopped by and left your comments. I enjoyed getting to know some who were new to me and it was nice seeing you I already knew. Thank you for your support.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I always love to read the story behind the story. I have a few of those special moments myself. Reading about yours urges me that much faster to dive into your story. Joy touched my heart and in my mind I saw the joy on her face the moment she saw you. I believe real-life experiences like this can add such richness and realism to a story. I look forward to reading Charlotte's Resurrection and wish you much writing success.
ReplyDeleteA belated thank you for your comments above, Elizabeth. I hope you like the story.
DeleteHow exciting!
ReplyDeleteHi Mollie. I'm sorry your comment came too late to be entered into the drawing to win one of the complimentary copies of Charlotte's Resurrection. I hope you will read it anyway!
Delete