If you've been keeping up with my Tuckaway Bay Series, you know I'm currently working on book 4, The Me I Left Behind: Maggie's Story.
To recap, here are the books in order of release:
1. Beach Therapy: A Novel
2. The Space In Between: Julia's Story
3. The Christmas Storm
Click to go to the Tuckaway Bay Series page.
Maggie Oliver has been an important and central character in the previous books. You already know her, her children, her husband, and most importantly, her situation. Maggie's life is replete with chaos, stress, and dysfunction--most of it due to her husband, Max.
Writing this book has been cathartic for me, in a way, because I've felt Maggie's pain in the three books I've written before this one. She leaves a heavy presence on you when reading about her.
Here's the current blurb for her story. (It could change slightly before release, which is not until summer, but this is where the book is headed....)
Can she find the girl she left behind on the shores of Tuckaway Bay?
When Maggie Oliver married her husband Max, she knew what she was signing on for at the time—but did she really think through the consequences of an open marriage?
Open for Max. Not her.
That was the trade-off. Max got his kicks outside the marriage. Maggie wanted for nothing.
She had money, a big house on the golf course, private schools for the kids, and social relationships. Bonus: the sex with Max, while often rough and dominant, was fantastic.
Maggie had everything she ever wanted and was well taken care of—Max reminded her of that often. So what if he had his share of discreet dalliances?
When the babies came, though, things changed. Max became less tolerant and increasingly abusive—both mentally and physically. His belittling became a thing to do in front of the kids and guests, embarrassing Maggie, and establishing his dominance over her. When they were alone, the belittling frequently turned to battering.
Maggie knows she is slowly losing herself. What happened to that carefree girl of years’ past? How in hell had she lost her in the first place? And why had she allowed Max to control her—and the children—in the ways he had?
When her teenage daughter, Carol, starts stepping into similar types of unhealthy relationships with young men, Maggie knows things must change, and takes steps in that direction.
Then something tragic happens that throws all their worlds into a downward spiral. Suddenly, Maggie’s path to finding herself takes an awkward, ugly turn—and the battle she thought she would fight with Max, turns into a struggle to save her family.