What Remains of Love

 

 

What Remains of Love

by Suzanne Trauth

GENRE:   Contemporary General Fiction

At the reading of her beloved father’s will, Kate, a divorced French professor, learns of his affaire de coeur during World War II with a French artist named Emilie, to whom he has left a substantial bequest. Kate, stunned to discover the existence of this woman who captivated her father, is determined to unravel the mystery of his past and unearth the truth. Though Emilie has passed away now, her daughter Yvette sends a box of her mother’s keepsakes from the war that are even more unnerving – among them a dried flower, a photograph, two smooth stones, and a train ticket. Kate wonders about her parents’ marriage. After the war had he abandoned passion for honor? Did he really love her mother, or was he compelled to marry her out of his sense of duty? How well did she really know her father? Or her mother? She embarks on a journey to the south of France to reconcile the past and confront her own demons, as well as the legacy of her father’s wartime love affair and the price he paid to live an honorable life. Kate’s life is changed forever…

Excerpt:

“Did you ever meet Dad in France?”

Bert leans back and allows his head to rest on the top of the booth. “Paris.” He frowns. “VE Day.”

“The end of the war?” I ask.

“Yeah. Everybody was in Paris.”

I bend forward tentatively. “Do you remember Dad mentioning a woman named Emilie?”

Bert fixes his gaze on the wall at the rear of the diner. A light goes on somewhere behind his eyes, and he breaks into a smile. “Emilie. Met her.”

My heart does a flip-flop. “You did?”

“She was a looker, all right.”

“Dad and Emilie were...friends?” How to ask about your father’s affair?  

Bert shrugs. “We were lonely. Far away from home.”

“What happened?”

“Dan didn’t think he’d get out alive. None of us did.” Bert rubs his chin. “He thought she might be his last chance.”

“Did he think about marrying her?”

“Couldn’t. He was engaged to Margaret.” 

“To Mother,” I say. Were Emilie and Mother competitors?

“Uh huh.” Bert starts to drum his fingers on the table, his focus shifting toward the door. It has been two hours since we left his apartment.

I have to ask. “Did Mother know about her?”

Bert picks at a yellowed, chipped fingernail. “Yeah,” he mumbles, abruptly stands up, and starts for the door.

About the Author:

Suzanne Trauth is the author of What Remains of Love and the Dodie O’Dell mystery series—Show Time, Time Out, Running out of Time, Just in Time, No More Time, and Killing Time. She co-authored Sonia Moore and American Acting Training and co-edited Katrina on Stage: Five Plays. In her previous career, she spent many years as a university professor of theatre. She lives in Woodland Park, New Jersey. Visit her website: www.suzannetrauth.com or connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneTrauth

Q&A With the Author

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

What Remains of Love has been a labor of love! I spent many years planning, researching, writing and editing this book and I enjoyed every step of the process. I am pleased that it is being released this week. Since aspects of the novel take place during World War II, I found myself digging into other novels from this period, viewing films  that are set during the 1940s, reading histories and biographies, and examining newspaper clippings. I love the research required to write historical aspects of a story and even enjoyed  examining maps of the part of France included in my novel. I love researching and drafting the early stages of the novel.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?

I am several drafts into a new standalone mystery—I wrote a cozy mystery series prior to this one—and worked with an editor to shape and develop character, plot, and stakes. It takes place in northern New Jersey, where I live, and though the towns where the action occurs are fictional, they are based on locations I have lived in and around during the past decades. The book should be released in 2023.

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?

Beyond my current work-in-progress, I have a few other projects simmering. Since I write plays as well, I have one in a final version that I am completing this fall. I am also planning a hybrid novel: a contemporary women’s fiction merged with a mystery. It should also have a healthy dose of humor!

How long have you been writing?

Since I was in grade school. I wrote stories and essays as a child, all the while reading mysteries—Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins—and kept up the habit in high school. I also wrote short plays and won some writing competitions, which encouraged me to keep at it! But my writing career began in earnest in the late1990s when I focused on screenplays. I turned to novels about 2002 and since then have alternated between novels and plays, moving from one to the other, and back again. My Dodie O’Dell Mystery series was completed in 2020.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Thanks for this opportunity to talk about What Remains of Love! I am excited for its launch. I hope you enjoy my post and I look forward to your comments on this blog.

Social Media:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneTrauth/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6187623.Suzanne_M_Trauth

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SuzanneMTrauth

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/suzannetrauth/

Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/suzanne-trauth

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/What-Remains-Love-Suzanne-Trauth-ebook/dp/B0B27MSRPP/

GIVEAWAY

Suzanne Trauth will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway