Whisper Mama: A Novel

opens in Harrisburg, Oregon, on an August evening in 1925 in the aftermath of a train crash that kills nine-year-old Evelyn Castle’s family. Although shattered, left alone to navigate the world on her own, she finds a way to survive. Part II takes us to the Oregon Coast in the 1950s, where we meet eight-year-old Elin, Evelyn’s youngest daughter. A forever tomboy, she takes the reader on her own critter-filled journey, and through her struggles under the violent hand of her father. All she wants in life is to feel love and to belong. Part III introduces Elin’s seven-year-old daughter, Lu, in the 1960s. Bashful, yet strong, she feels the need to protect herself and her siblings from the ugly intentions of others. She’s in a constant search for calm, for a world she can trust in. She carries the story through, circling back to her beloved grandmother. The generations come together in Part IV in Dallas, Oregon, in 1985. As Lu, now in her twenties, is beckoned home for a heartfelt visit with her mother and grandmother. is a story about surviving, and finally knowing when it’s time to go.