The Keeper’s Wife

About the Book

Johnny Monson’s old friend Belinda Pappos has spent over thirty years as a clinical psychologist, working at a local clinic near Jacksonville, Florida. As a youngster, she’d spent much of her free time during the beautiful summer of 1976 with Johnny, who lived on his sailboat at a city marina in St. Augustine, Florida. As an aspiring writer he relishes in the peaceful solitude offered by a life close to the sea yet, by its very nature, such solitude also brings with it time for introspection, maybe too much time? Life being life, Monson grows older, and he ruminants over a woman he’d fallen in love with those long years ago—thinking, fantasizing, and searching his troubled soul for answers to questions that no one could answer. He turns back to his long-time friend for help. The therapist launches John Monson into a strange cerebral journey as he recalls the summer day when he first met a female student in St. Augustine. There was something anomalous about the woman, a mysterious quality that has befuddled him for almost forty years. Sailing, witchcraft, rough dialogue, a story that will keep the reader thinking, and a wealth of colorful characters—those off-the-grid people who live, or are at least more noticed, in many of America’s small towns. These are hard-working, blue-collar folks who possess a very substantive yet illusory quality. Cuddle up in a blanket when it’s cold and rainy outside, pour yourself a warm cup of coffee, and read The Keeper’s Wife. The Keeper’s Wife is fun, thought-provoking and, at the same time, an easy read. The book will become legendary for its pure, psychological appeal.

About the Author

John Hatch is the author of The Keeper’s Wife. He was born and raised in a small town. Most of his adult life was spent living outside the state—first in Florida, where he began a career in aviation and spent a total of twelve years, and finally in Utah, spending eighteen years as a corporate pilot as well as attending the University of Utah, where he majored in psychology. As he so aptly puts it, “I had excellent creative writing instructors at the U of U, but it’s the history and folklore of St. Augustine, Florida, that really began my journey into writing.” He spends much of his free time sailing, kayaking, and lounging on his deck, enjoying a glass of wine and cigar.