Life in Continuous Present

Have you ever wished you could speak with a character you met in a book? Liz Benton, a widow with two grown daughters, certainly has. But as a writer of historical fiction, she has the ability to make it happen-or at least, she used to. Two years after her husband's death, Liz feels as if her muse has fled, leaving her without a voice. Yet, in spite of her writer's block, Liz has traveled to her late uncle's Iowa farm desperately hoping for the inspiration to begin a new book. While cleaning out the farmhouse attic, Liz stumbles across the diary of a 19th century farmer's wife, and begins to read. Drawn into the woman's life story, Liz haltingly begins to write again, first responding in her journal, then weaving together the threads of story she finds within the diary. Finally, Liz allows her skills as a storyteller free-reign and creates a fanciful present-tense dialogue between the diarist and herself-where each takes a turn telling her story. As a result of this exchange, Liz comes to recognize the root of her writing problem is a fear of moving on-of beginning a new life without her husband. Through a series of events, including a sisters' getaway to Chicago and a neighbor's family wedding, Liz finally recognizes that she cannot wait to 'get over' her fears. She must choose to act in spite of them-a choice that ultimately leads her to write a book inspired by the diary. Liz' story, born out of the author's Master's thesis research with the very real thirty-year diary of 19th century Manchester resident Emily Hawley Gillespie, began in the state archives in Iowa City with Emily's original diary, and traveled to Manchester, Iowa to meet the current owner of Emily's home-a gentleman who bought the house in 1954 from her daughter. It was there in Emily's house the author first saw an old wooden trunk which came to signify a pivotal moment in Liz's search for the diarist and herself.