"I don't think a man should be too timid either. What do you think, Mr. Borden?"
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Keonah Days by M. Paul Chinitz Trafford Publishing
book review by Maria A. Hughes
Being a witness to the death of a loved one, especially to terminal illness, is a life changing event. It can be difficult to convey through writing unless one has experienced it. In Keonah Days, Paul Chinitz portrays this grief and the struggle to adapt through the character Emmett Borden, a husband who recently lost his wife to cancer. Emmett can no longer fit in the circle of friends that he and his wife surrounded themselves with nor live in their apartment. After years living and working in New York as an engineer, Emmett decides on a whim to leave and go back to his hometown in Iowa.
Along the way he stops at the Elton Lodge, and the oddities displayed in its lobby piques his interest. Noting his curiosity, Ms. Adamson, the owner of the lodge, invites him to dinner. Despite the instant chemistry, Emmett moves to a different town called Keonah to work at a hardware store in order to give himself something to occupy his mind and days. Nonetheless, Emmett finds himself subconsciously fascinated by the mysterious Ms. Adamson. Is this love? Can he love someone again? Would he be betraying his wife’s memory?
Keonah Days is a book that will appeal to those who are romantics at heart and enjoy a story about grief and finding the strength to start over. The author cleverly reverses the stereotypical gender roles within the romance genre, where Emmett is the shy, confused, thoughtful, and romantic widower and Ms. Adamson is the enigmatic, provocative woman who smokes cigarettes when relaxed and can be challenging at times. It is a pleasant read, and while having romantic elements, it is a profound story of living with grief and moving on.