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A WINTER NIGHT

$17.95

Kirkus Reviews calls A Winter Night “an outstanding and unsentimental portrait of family, love, and unavoidable hardships.”

Continuing the Dugan Family Saga, A WINTER NIGHT focuses on eldest daughter, Angie, and her issues with self-acceptance, love, and learning to trust. Angie’s been unlucky with men. Three awkward relationships have left her leery of commitment. When she meets Matt, a friend of her brother’s, she is instantly attracted to him. The attraction seems mutual, yet Angie can’t quiet her inner doubts. Is his interest sincere? Is he just using her for sex? Does he really not care that she carries a bit of extra weight? Angie is good at reading people, a skill that serves her well in her job as a social worker for a retirement community, but can’t read Matt at all. When Angie hears that a waitress at the bar where Matt works is arrested for selling cocaine, she soon learns that she and Matt were more than co-workers. Matt says the relationship is over, but Angie has trouble believing that, especially because he talks to her whenever she calls, and she calls all the time. Then there’s Matt’s history of drug use, which may not be as behind him as he says. His answers to Angie’s frustrated questions are plausible, reasonable, and ring of truth, but Angie’s suspicions remain. Is she being played for a fool? Or is she just scared of getting hurt again?

Kirkus Reviews calls A Winter Night “an outstanding and unsentimental portrait of family, love, and unavoidable hardships.”

Continuing the Dugan Family Saga, A WINTER NIGHT focuses on eldest daughter, Angie, and her issues with self-acceptance, love, and learning to trust. Angie’s been unlucky with men. Three awkward relationships have left her leery of commitment. When she meets Matt, a friend of her brother’s, she is instantly attracted to him. The attraction seems mutual, yet Angie can’t quiet her inner doubts. Is his interest sincere? Is he just using her for sex? Does he really not care that she carries a bit of extra weight? Angie is good at reading people, a skill that serves her well in her job as a social worker for a retirement community, but can’t read Matt at all. When Angie hears that a waitress at the bar where Matt works is arrested for selling cocaine, she soon learns that she and Matt were more than co-workers. Matt says the relationship is over, but Angie has trouble believing that, especially because he talks to her whenever she calls, and she calls all the time. Then there’s Matt’s history of drug use, which may not be as behind him as he says. His answers to Angie’s frustrated questions are plausible, reasonable, and ring of truth, but Angie’s suspicions remain. Is she being played for a fool? Or is she just scared of getting hurt again?

Praise for A WINTER NIGHT

An outstanding, unsentimental portrait of family, love, and unavoidable hardships.

KIRKUS REVIEWS

Anne Leigh Parrish does it once again. In A Winter Night, she brings her signature wisdom and wit to the world of Angie Dugan, a retirement home social worker who spends her days caring for others while yearning to be cared for herself. Part social commentary in the spirit of Jane Austen, and at moments romantic comedy in the vein of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, A Winter Night is ultimately a poignant and powerful novel that delves deep into the meaning of trust, understanding and forgiveness. Anne Leigh Parrish proves the rare writer who can make readers laugh hard while taking them on a serious journey--and this is a journey upon which readers most certainly wish to embark.

Jacob M. Appel, author of Millard Salter's Last Day

The author's spare, vibrant prose dives deep into the emotion of each moment. Angie is an interesting character because she is so real. She is not exciting, not gorgeous, not very sure of herself, and not always likable. Her inner narrative is authentic to her past life experience; this is what resonated with me most while I read. Angie's anxiety, self-doubt, and desperate hope for the new relationship she has begun with Matt sometimes manifest as harsh words to the people she cares about the most; she worries that she doesn't know how to love. At the same time, she spends most of her life caring for the people around her. The author does a fantastic job narrating the voice inside Angie's head. This inner dialogue-sometimes sarcastic, sometimes scared, occasionally kind-is what brought the book to life for me.

HannahReads, Online Book Club

 

About ANNE LEIGH PARRISH

Anne Leigh Parrish is the author of fifteen books which include short stories, novels, and poetry. She is passionate about the environment and women’s rights. Recently, she has ventured into the art of photography. Learn more about Anne at www.anneleighparrish.com and at www.laviniastudios.com. She lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State.

 

  • Genre: Fiction (Novel)

    ISBN: 978-1-950730-60-5

    Publication Date: March 16, 2021​

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