Description
Echoes
or, The Insistence of Memory
a novel by Tom Shachtman
ISBN: 978-1-956440-49-2 paperback $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-956440-50-8 ebook $9.99
August 15, 2023
Ell, a millennial of European and Mexican heritage, has one humorous children’s book published, but her more serious writing projects are stalled, her boyfriend has dumped her, and she is deeply frightened by a recurring dream. To solve her problems, she delves into family mysteries—Civil War-era slaveholding, madness, and theft of artifacts. The key to all, previously unknown to Ell but remarkable, is a female Confederate warrior ancestor whose nightmare echoes her own. By tracing both of their dreams to ancient times, and by using insights from modern genetic theory, Ell solves the mysteries and enables herself to move forward.
What people are saying about Echoes or, The Insistence of Memory:
“Ell’s own searching identity merges with that of her rediscovered Warrior Princess as the novel moves beyond its characters to explore how our notions of history and memory are comprised of an infinity of fragments that interrelate in many ways.”—Kenneth Knoespel, poet and professor emeritus in history and literature, Georgia Tech
Tom Shachtman has published forty books, most recently The Memoir of the Minotaur (Madville Publishing, 2020). His histories include The Day America Crashed, Skyscraper Dreams, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold, and The Founding Fortunes; his social analyses, Rumspringa and The Inarticulate Society; non-fiction children’s books such as Growing Up Masai; and an eclectic trilogy of short novels about sea lions, Beachmaster, Wavebender, and Driftwhistler. His award-winning documentaries have aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and BBC. He holds degrees in experimental psychology and in drama and has taught writing at NYU and lectured at Harvard, Georgia Tech, the Library of Congress, Stanford, and other institutions.
kpdavis –
Tom Shachtman brings his in-depth understanding of what it means to be a writer to this story. There’s a sweet granddaughter/grandfather relationship, as well as a woman dressed as a man to fight in the Civil War. It’s a thought provoking story that posits the possibility of our DNA retaining familial memories. Fascinating stuff!