Shade of the Maple - Softcover

Martin, Kirk

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0971614504 ISBN 13: 9780971614505

Publisher: Cantwell Hamilton Pr, 2002

Synopsis

Anna Matthews left home at eighteen, a young woman rooted in small-town virtues, seeking adventure in the Green Mountains of Vermont. She found a free-spirited young man whose boundless imagination captivated her heart. Forced apart, Anna tries to build a new life. A decade later, a series of gripping novels awaken Anna’s veiled dreams, illuminating a striking disparity within her marriage. She seeks the author, but the truth she discovers will change her life. Anna is confronted with a clear choice--continue living the comfortable, but hollow American Dream or pursue her dream. In his auspicious debut, Kirk Martin paints a love story that is at once soaring and bittersweet. Shade of the Maple captures the subtle, yet powerful nuances that distinguish mere romance from intimacy. An intimacy that is powerful, moving and unforgettable.

Kirk Martin is donating $1.00 from every purchase of Shade of the Maple to Friends You Can Count On to develop an earlier detection blood test for breast cancer.

Visit celebrateADHD.com for more information.

About this title

About the Author

Celebrate!ADHD Executive Director and Founder Kirk Martin is an accomplished speaker, author and entrepreneur who serves on the Board of a Charter School for at-risk children in Washington, D.C. His passion is helping children achieve extraordinary success.

SHADE OF THE MAPLE, Martin’s first novel, was a Barnes & Noble Top 10 Bestseller when released and remains a favorite. THE GRAVEL DRIVE, his second novel, was recently optioned for production as a made-for-TV movie. In September 2005, Martin will simultaneously release a non-fiction book for parents of children with ADHD titled, Celebrate! ADHD, and a thrilling novel that captures the struggles and triumphs of a seventeen-year-old boy with ADHD titled, GIFTED. Visit.celebrateADHD for more information.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue

A BRISK autumn breeze accompanied the broken man like an old friend as he ambled over the familiar sidewalk. His worn feet knew every crack and rift splitting the unforgiving cement squares he had greeted for the past fifty years. And the sidewalk knew him intimately. Some days, it mourned the lumbering gait of a grieving man, tasting the bitter drops of his tears. Others, it reveled in the triumphal float of a man ignited by a larger purpose. This path could tell the story of a man who lived a life inside his own mind, longing for a time that always seemed beyond his grasp.

A young couple, swinging hands and sharing an ice cream cone, waltzed past him, unaware that he understood the feeling. To them, he was a stranger’s forgotten grandfather, a faceless man without a story. Ah, he thought, the blissful foolishness of adolescent love. Oblivious to everything except themselves, disregarding reason, savoring ice cream on a chilly day. Unsure if they are so much in love with each other as they are with the delirium of love itself. A prayer whispered under his breath. Let them know a consuming love forged by trial as well. Their giggling trailed away into the crackling of leaves beneath his feet.

Stepping into the small market, he unzipped his jacket and roamed the narrow aisles, carefully picking necessities from the shelves. He exchanged a smile and wishes for a pleasant evening with the shopkeeper before bundling up and heading home.

The faint smell of smoke drifting from distant chimneys heralded the arrival of fall together with its first tastes of winter, stirring thoughts from the carefree days of his youth. He remembered waking to bright autumn mornings. A northeasterly chill replaced the fire of summer, beckoning for sweatshirts and football games on lawns dappled with vivid reds and oranges and golds. Each snapping gust unleashing an avalanche of leaves. The discomfort of callused hands and sore back—from dragging a rake across the yard—quickly forgotten in the joy of countless leaps into scattered piles. Nothing could be better than New England in autumn, the allure of Thanksgiving and Christmas in the air. The sun in its unselfish glory would gradually yield to the reign of the forbidding moon as days shortened, playtime outdoors measured in minutes.

Boisterous shrieks in the darkening sky conjured images of young boys playing football. Dingy sweatshirts sullied by dirt and grass pressed into creases, sweat beading on foreheads, faces flush with the intensity of competition buffered by the resiliency of friendship.

As the final glow of amber surrendered to dusk, the town retreated into the warmth of their homes, the yellow din glowing through frosted windowpanes. The dry, piercing night air muted his nostrils, the only discernable scent the familiar smoke from innumerable fireplaces. He pictured logs carefully laid over blackened grates, the first crackles of splintered kindling delighting children, the emanating warmth drawing families together.

Finally reaching home, he lumbered up the wide plank steps, glancing up at stars forming out of darkness before turning the knob. He moved through the black hallway to the kitchen and set the groceries on wooden countertops. Into the worn cupboards cans of soup and vegetables took their places as if they knew where they belonged. The refrigerator welcomed the milk, eggs and juice.

He retired to his den, the candle’s soft glimmer lighting the creased paper beneath his hands, throwing flickering shadows against the wall. After a short time, he cupped his hand around the candle and blew. He trod down the narrow hallway, opened the door to the back porch, and fell into the comfort of his rocking chair. The moon cast its silvery glow upon the hushed countryside, silence broken only by the constant creaking of the empty chair beside him. As he had over the course of a lifetime, he slipped into another world and relived a story that echoed through his soul day after day, a story shaped by Vermont and a young woman—until shaken by a profound thought:

He had spent his life living for the promise of the future. Now he was grasping for a past beyond his reach.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cantwell Hamilton Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0971614504
• ISBN 13: 9780971614505
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 213