Weekend Reads Presents Harrowgate by Kate Maruyama

I know Halloween is over, but... Harrowgate waits. 

Blurb

Michael should be overjoyed by the birth of his son, but his wife, Sarah won't let him touch the baby or allow anyone to visit.
Greta, an intrusive, sinister doula has wormed her way into their lives, driving a wedge between Michael and his family. Every time he leaves the Harrowgate, he returns to find his beloved wife and baby altered. He feels his family slipping away and, as a malevolent force begins to creep in, Michael does what any new father would do—he fights to keep his family together.



Five Star Review

Love, loss, and moving on is what Harrowgate is all about. Except for one major issue, the moving on part. How far would you go to keep a loved one with you?

Michael is stuck in the wilds of Canada when he gets word that his wife is in labor. It takes him a week to get to her, a week filled with the inability to contact any other family member like his mother, his wife's sister, and even her mother. When he finally arrives at his apartment house, the doorman greets him and sends him upstairs with a sympathetic glance. Michael barely notices as he takes the elevator to his floor. Upon arriving home, he sees his wife, gaunt, tired, and woefully lacking in any motherly skills, huddling in a corner. Greta, a new friend, is there to help her transition into motherhood by offering assistance with nursing and the myriad other duties a new mother has to attend to. Like how to skirt death and the hard part, moving on.

Brilliantly written, I could not put Harrowgate down. While some verbiage was over used and certain themes repeated, this new author might give Stephen King a run for his money. For whatever reason, Harrowgate put me in mind of The Pet Cemetery. One of those creepy novels that haunts you long afterward.

If you love those kinds of stories (and I do) give Harrowgate a place on your bookshelf or in your Kindle. It will be well worth your money.

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Biography

Kate Maruyama was raised on books and weaned on movies in a small college town in New England. She writes, teaches, cooks, and eats in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her fiction has been published in several literary journals in print and online and she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles.

In 2009, she co-founded Annotation Nation, a literary website with Diane Sherlock, which publishes articles by writers about the craft of writing. To learn more, visit www.annotationnation.com or visit her website at
www.katemaruyama.com

You can follow her on Twitter @katemaruyama

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