Toward The Sun-Rising
A Journey to Love and Far-Away Places
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About the Book
Julia and Austin meet in romantic Tuscany, but neither can rip off the bandages protecting their healing hearts. While laughing over travel stories, the earth shifts. Julia is a people-pleaser with shaky self-confidence and firm moral boundaries. Austin is the responsible rock for his family. They are today’s Romeo and Juliet, facing obstinate offspring rather than perverse parents. We grapple with their fears, agonize over their choices, chuckle at their light-hearted humor, fret over their separations, tremble at their risks, thrill to their rewards, and throb during breathless moments of sexual tension. They redefine love for us all.
Toward the Sun-Rising
by Rachel Dayvault
ISBN 1-4134-4902-6
299 pages at 18.69 trade paper and 28.79 hardbound
Xlibris Corporation
International Plaza II, Suite 340
Philadelphia, PA 19113-1513
www.xlibris.com
This is Rachel Dayvault's first novel. Those who have the good fortune of reading it will hope it isn't her last. Dayvault definitely has a way with words and tells a captivating story. The characters are realistic, the dialogue true to life, and the prose often beautiful.
In the imaginative prologue we meet Maralee who is contemplating actions no friend should have to face. Her life long friend Julia has perished in the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Building. Almost simultaneously, the love of Julia's life dies in an Arizona plane crash. Tales of heroism and thrilling acts of kindness on the news can't reach Maralee's heart. Her heart is broken from Julia's loss. Somehow she must bring the ashes of Julia and her lover together in death as they were in life. But how?
Knowing that both main characters have died does not detract from the story. It strengthens and enriches each chapter and every moment. Julia Hollander is a woman with a strong moral compass and an adventuresome spirit. She's endured an inattentive husband and a dead marriage for years. Now her husband is in a nursing home, slowly deteriorating from Alzheimer's. Despite the protests of her grown children, she and friend Maralee book a tour of Italy.
Austin Randolph is a fifty-something widower. His marriage to an alcoholic, manipulative woman left deep wounds. A cautious, solemn man, he's always been the rock to his three children. He finds great peace in travel, reading guidebooks and brochures to occupy his thoughts. When he meets Julia in Italy, every hope and dream he ever had regarding love and travel is epitomized in her beauty and vivacious personality. With Julia he can laugh and be himself without fear of reprisal.
Both in their fifties, Julia and Austin are no longer young. Each has learned to consider life's risks and avoid pain. In lengthy conversations, they share their love of travel and especially enjoy exploring quaint villages. In a few short days of sight seeing, they fall in love. Their time in Italy is idyllic. Nothing is out of bounds -- not their deepest fears or secret dreams -- as each allows the other into their world. Such intimacies give them hope as Julia contemplates divorce from her husband and marriage to Austin.
Stateside, the aging lovers struggle to maintain the joy they knew in Italy. Vitriolic in-laws shatter Julia's joy, while Austin fights a deep depression caused by his children. They meet occasionally and manage to reconfirm their devotion or to resolve family differences. But eventually they decide to marry and throw caution to the wind, regardless of what their families might think.
What sets this book apart for me is the descriptive prose. Austin and Julia don't simply travel, talk, and make love. They generously share the world they see around them. The following is one small sample:
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About the Author
Rachel Dayvault started writing when she was four; around that same time she began roving the neighborhood in search of adventure. This pattern continued. Eventually, she combined these two passions into travel articles, creative non-fiction stories about interactions with people in distant lands, humor pieces, and essays. Though she has lived in Kansas most of her life, she is “Sooner born and Sooner bred.” Her roots grow deep into the red dirt of small-town Oklahoma, where her pioneer grandfather settled after making the famous land run of 1889. She’s an avid gardener, antique collector, and playmate to four, terrific grandsons.