Poinciana Jones

About the Book

Wanting to add flair and style to her life, Mary Jones changes her name to Poinciana, believing that will do the trick. But it’s not the name that makes the woman, it’s the footbath, according to Jane, her hard working RN mother. Poinciana’s adventures in search of romance lead to strange bedfellows, namely a litter of kittens, and Punkin, a big, yellow, rat-catching cat.

Nurse Jane Jones, a widow, meets many interesting people on her ‘C’ Ward, including Elizabeth Saylor, Errol Finn, and Helen Shirley Towne, to name a few. Elsie, an obese patient who has recently died after being made the brunt of a faux bubonic plague quarantine dreamed up by a bureaucratic patsy, and leaving Jane with a case of post traumatic stress syndrome, now haunts the ward in the form of a shadowy specter. Jane and her trainee, Ginny, come to realize that when Elsie appears, patients die. Such is life or death on ‘C’ Ward, Jane’s home away from home and sanctuary.

Justin, her dropout son, and his friend, Randy, move in with her and Poinciana when Randy’s mom, Suzy, a homey whore with whom the boys have been living, marries her suitor, Errol Finn, in the hospital, where he is recovering from a colon cancer operation.

Poinciana befriends a reclusive neighbor, Stanley Kubrick, who is conducting an experiment with rats, some of which have gotten loose in his basement and been caught by Punkin, including #5622, or Twooie, his pet, and the “control rat.” Luckily, Twooie was not killed, and Poinciana has set him free in the lot next to the beauty shop where she works as bookkeeper. This triggers a trapping extravaganza that Stanley uses as a pretext to keep Poinciana near.

Poinciana has become interested in Randy, who is now the family chef, making Stanley jealous. Justin gets a job at the local animal shelter after convincing Randy that the way to Poinciana’s heart is to gift her a litter of kittens.

Geraldine, Jane’s feisty mother, is diagnosed with cancer, and when Poinciana visits her on ‘C’ Ward, she falls for a handsome young patient named Harry Porter, making Randy and Stanley neglected and dejected.. Harry is miraculously cured, but instead of calling Poinciana for a date as he promised her he would, he ends up back in the hospital with a cocaine overdose. Poinciana is devastated, and she pleads with her mother to visit Harry on her behalf. Jane does so and is surprised by his other visitor.

Randy and Stanley unite against the common enemy, and Poinciana’s fate will make you cry. I did, and I wrote the story. The other characters achieve remarkable lives as explained in the epilogue.

About the Author

Author Biography Short Nellis Boyer is an animal-loving Realtor and aspiring writer who lives in Northern California with her husband, Jerry, and their numerous cats, dogs, geese, chickens, and the rabbit, Honey Bun. She and Jerry maintain seventeen acres and get their exercise by running away from the geese up the hill to the house. Her favorite statement is “under all is the land,” from the Realtor’s Code of Ethics. It’s a beautiful sentiment, says Nell, and of course undeniable. Whoever wrote it possessed brilliant powers of observation and irony. Nell appreciates truth and irony, and her favorite books are those that make her laugh.