Ferney

When Mike and Gally move to a cottage in Somerset, it's to make a new start. But the relationship comes under strain when Gally forms an increasingly close attachment to an old countryman, Ferney, who seems to know everything about her.

What is it that draws them together? Reluctantly at first, then with more urgency as he feels time slipping away, Ferney compels Gally to understand their connection - and to face an inexplicable truth about their shared past.

Though Gally Martin has the unfailing love and support of her husband Mike, she has always known a deep yearning for something else. When Mike and Gally pass through the small country village of Penselwood on a house-hunting excursion, they discover an abandoned house and an elderly neighbor named Ferney. The moment Gally sees Ferney and the home, she feels the tremors of a long-dormant emotion stirring in her core. Desperate soothe the anxieties that have always haunted Gally--and overlooking the strange Ferney--Mike agrees to buy the dilapidated home.

While the house seems to bring Gally a newfound sense of stability, she is alternately intrigued and troubled by the aged Ferney--she feels an enormous pull toward him but cannot understand his allure or her growing sense of betrayal. How can she be so attracted to such a strange, older man? When Ferney begins to tell Gally of his past, she feels her confusion growing. He describes a mysterious relationship that transcends time, a connection stronger than that of siblings or even lovers. Unable to reject his words or ignore the ephemeral evidence in her own memory, Gally must test her heart and wager her destiny.

Merrily skipping along the history of the past millennium, James Long's Ferney spends just enough time in each significant historical period to have the immortal lovers unite, experience the pertinent social or political issues of the day, and pass on. Frank dialogue, rich descriptions, and the exploration of the concepts and consequence of destiny make this novel a special treat for the head as well as the heart. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien