"BelleMare", by Angela Somerset. (2nd) Judges' report
"BelleMare" is a charming family/mystery. The judges found this entry "very accomplished", and praised the turn of phrase. Descriptive writing can become florid or seem to be trying too hard, but this author stayed well in command of the material.
Two judges found the style and atmosphere reminiscent of Mary Stewart's work. Read an excerpt below.
EXCERPT from "BelleMere".
Perhaps I should have stayed at home with Father.
I wouldn't be sitting here today in the library of my grandfather's house
trying to put my life back together and wondering if the little
Maine town of Ship's Head will continue to be my home.
The long row of casement windows in this northeast facing wing looks out
on a panoramic view of the Atlantic coast. It's a painter's landscape of
cold blues and greens,
cascades and whirls of glaring white surf, darting seagulls against the
wisps and billows of dreamy clouds.
The soaring birds fight each other for sea life.
Their squawking calls are unheeded by the inhabitants of the shore.
They are too inured to the discordant quarreling to consider it anything
but background noise in their lives.
I realize now I was accustomed to the appearance of calm overlaying the
reality of
intrigue and deceit.
I'd grown up with it, accepted it as part of my life, considered it
ordinary.
I'd
unknowingly lived with it in the house,
been blind to its existence in my closest relationships.
It was woven right into the fabric of my life and therefore, dictated the
unraveling.
I can see the workmen from this window.
I watch their digging in the rich soil of the cliff side garden and
imagine their fathers and grandfathers working on the same hillside.
It is a new design but the changes of these last few years have not
altered the fundamental design of MaryBelle.
It remains my grandfather's monument - to what?
Pride?
Revenge? Vindication?
As a runner up, Angela wins the prize package offered at PRIZE for 2nd place.
