Venom and the River: A Novel of Pepin

By: Marsha Qualey

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Synopsis: A ghost writer with a secret is haunted by the fandom of a beloved children&’s author in this novel by the writer of the Gracie LaRoo children&’s books. In the small town of Pepin, Minnesota, two very different literary legacies reside in the same house. The historic home of celebrated children&’s author Ida May Turnbull is also the temporary home of Leigh Burton, a disgraced journalist who was stripped of a Pulitzer Prize for fabricating details in her stories. Now, as several hundred women converge on tiny Pepin to celebrate Ida&’s birthday, the &“Little Girls&” bring exactly the kind of attention Leigh can&’t afford to face. Getting by as a freelancer since her downfall, Leigh is in Pepin to assist a former US vice president with his memoirs. Of course, no publisher would touch a piece of nonfiction with her fingerprints on it, so Leigh has to keep her past under wraps. Things get complicated when she&’s gently blackmailed by a Pepin local. And they get downright difficult when Leigh&’s sixteen-year-old daughter unexpectedly shows up, threatening to tell everyone Mom&’s secret. The last thing she needs is to be living in the bullseye of the Little Girls&’ childhood obsession. At a moment when her secret, her work, a budding romance, and her fragile relationship with her daughter are all in peril, Leigh could use a little love of her own.