In Mattingly’s newest novel, on Memorial Day, Jackson and Olivia Porter lose their daughter, Ava, who goes overboard during a sudden, and violent, squall that overtakes Puget Sound. In the ensuing weeks, both, understandably, reside in constant states of shock and grief, but only Jackson believes their daughter to have drowned. With no body recovered from the water, Livy maintains that, in a flash of lightning during the storm, she saw someone on a boat pull Ava out of the water. Only their daughter was then never returned, providing Livy with ghastly wonderings as to what became of her daughter following this hope of rescue. Thus brings about the first cracks in the otherwise sturdy wall of their marriage, separating Jackson and Olivia, the latter believing so much their daughter is still alive, she leaves Ava’s memorial service in a panic to chase down a girl that resembles their daughter.
Olivia, whose mental capacities are now in question, decides she cannot remain with Jackson as long as he doesn't hold a flicker of belief to her maternal feeling that Ava is still out there, likely being held against her will, and so she goes off to an old lighthouse manned by her father on the Oregon coast for respite. And it's there that Olivia, who writes for a magazine and is preparing a fall feature story, begins delving into the mystery of a ghost that supposedly haunts the stairwell of the old lighthouse.
A ghost with a message for Olivia.
In the open I mentioned having a gut-wrenching experience reading Olivia’s Ghost, and here's why:
For one, ever since the wintry afternoon, two years ago, when I learned I would become a father, I've had difficulty with stories (of all mediums) that deal with children in peril. My wife and I went to the movies the night we learned our little Peanut would be adding to our family, and one of the previews was for Heaven Is For Real - inspired by the supposed true story where a boy dies on the operating table and claims to have traveled to heaven before coming back. I cried watching it. Yes, a movie trailer.
Mattingly’s opening chapter of what happens on Puget Sound draws you right into the Porter family. You like them immediately, and you clench and wince with dread knowing the looming clouds mean the worst for this family. You know what's going to happen, and that almost makes it worse. You’re at the mercy of Mattingly’s striking prose, which puts you right there with this family, at the worst moments of their lives, and you can do nothing to help. You can only observe.
Being a parent, I couldn't imagine how I'd respond to such a tragic event. And that's how I approached Olivia’s Ghost - by wondering what I would do, wondering what my wife would do in the face of something so unspeakable.
The other gut-wrenching portion of my experience is that while I can see why Jackson would be stubborn in his belief of what happened, just as much as Olivia is with her own, it saddened me to read how the two could not initially find common ground. Or, even, how common ground wasn't enough, and that separation became the answer.
I wanted each side to fight harder for the other, but obviously the events had taken a substantial toll. Neither side, also, wanted to give or bend. Escape was the only solace.
Then there are the added...distractions to their marriage, but I’ll leave you, dear reader, to discover the rest for yourself. There is a wonderfully rewarding story to be found here, full of twists and turns, cryptic messages from the beyond, love enduring through impossible sadness and trauma, and, in the end…
Oh, no. I can't go there. Except only to say that you will be hooked right to the very end. To the last line on the absolute last page.
What Kathryn Mattingly has done here, at least for me, is create a truly psychological experience. Her expertly written dialogue, characters with the best of intentions residing in shades of gray, and scenes painted with only the finest of strokes, turn the real questions back onto you.
What would you do if you were Jackson or Olivia?
How strong is your faith?
How far are you willing to go to get the truth? Is the truth enough?
One only needs to open Olivia’s Ghost to begin discovering the answers for yourself.
Just be warned, putting the book down may be more difficult than answering the questions it raises.
Now a little about the author.
Kathryn Mattingly has taught writing at four different private colleges. Aside from her literary suspense novels and short story collection, Kathryn’s work can be found in numerous small press anthologies and several print magazines. She coordinates the Top of the Mountain writing contest for the Northern Colorado Writer’s Conference and is a judge for the Writer’s Guild Harvest Festival in Bend, Oregon. Kathryn has won five awards for her fiction, and teaches novel writing at a local college. I interviewed Kathryn regarding her latest novel, Olivia’s Ghost.
Kathryn ~ First, loved the book. I found it powerful, heartbreaking, and ultimately it created a struggle within my own self as to how I would handle the situation Jackson and Livy find themselves in. Ever since the day I learned I would become a father, the idea of a child in harm's way hits me hard. The night I learned Becca was pregnant we went to the movies, and a trailer for, "Heaven Is For Real" (where the little boy dies and claims to have seen what comes after) played. Almost immediately I was in tears. So to say I found your story effective is quite the understatement.
What was the idea for OLIVIA'S GHOST that sparked and made you want to write this story as the next novel? How long did it take to put together DRAFT ONE? What was your schedule in writing it?
As a parent of four, nothing I imagined could be more horrific than losing a child before your very eyes and not being able to do anything about it, except watch. I’m sure I pulled from novels and movies that touch upon this theme, because I read a lot of books and am quite the movie buff. Sophie’s Choice nearly destroyed me in that moment of first realizing the implications and far reaching effects of such a dilemma.
I wrote the first draft of Olivia’s Ghost over a decade ago, and only recently completely reworked the book. When I originally wrote it, Terry Brooks, of Sword of Shannara book series fame, which was recently turned into a MTV hit series, was my mentor. He loved the premise, but feared certain aspects of the paranormal theme might not suspend my reader’s disbelief unless I reworked it a bit.
I also had a New York agent at the time, Tony Outhwaite, with JCA Literary Agency. He sent the original book out to numerous editors at publishing houses and the feedback was wonderful. They all loved the main concept, characters, and setting, but that paranormal thread still needed work. I finally nailed it by doing a major re-haul of the ghost in the lighthouse, at least if my early readers are any indication. I must say it felt immensely satisfying to finally give this book a proper paranormal plotline that draws my readers in and endears them to the ghost.
My writing schedule for this book was literally 8-10 hours a day, 6-7 days a week (I kid you not) for 8 months straight. That’s because once I had decided to completely rewrite it I began to panic that the book wouldn’t be ready for its release date this fall. So, I put my head to the grindstone and never came up for air. (Well, maybe for a glass of wine here and there.)
As I've noticed in your other books, your characters aren't black and white. Here, both the characters of Jackson and Livy are in states of grief, but Jackson plays the head to Livy's heart in regards to believing what ultimate fate became of their daughter, Ava. Obviously I won't spoil that here, but I want to talk about these characters. Jackson's approach is one of, "It happened, it was awful, but for the sake of what we have left - we need to move on," whereas Livy refuses to give in to that thinking, trusting that their daughter was indeed pulled from the Sound during the squall by a person on another boat. She needs to find Ava and bring her home.
There is a line Livy says to her photographer friend, Andrew, that goes, "I don't know why I'm suddenly aware of her (the ghost in the lighthouse) but I am. If my intuition is wrong about the ghost, then it might be wrong about Ava... and I can't accept that." Is this a matter of Livy trying to gain some measure of control over the uncontrollable situation they had with Ava on the water? Or is this just guilt for not saving Ava?
You’re right about my characters not being black and white. One aspect of writing that I enjoy most is showing how a character behaves under pressure, when experiencing a difficult situation. Jackson and Olivia’s self perception as responsible and good parents becomes badly shaken, and they deal with it in different ways. Whereas Jackson chooses escapism (into his work or his bottle) Olivia wants to find her child and resume their once happy life as if nothing ever happened.
Neither of them can justify to themselves the unthinkable- letting their daughter drown in a storm on a sailboat, where they believed she’d be safe, because all parents believe they can keep their child safe, no matter what – right? Well, the truth is that neither of them could save their daughter, so while one is trying to escape from that reality, the other is trying to change it. If Olivia perceives herself to be unstable (and she fears she might be) then she cannot continue to believe Ava is alive and well, and waiting to be found. She feels she has no choice but to believe that the ghost is also real, even though a part of her questions it (at least, in the beginning).
Because I'm so caught up with how Jackson and Livy reacted differently in the aftermath of the squall, and I always like to wonder "What if..." let's say Ava drowned and they - Jackson and Olivia - pulled her from the Sound. How do you envision their lives would have gone on from that point? Would the issue of their daughter's death still have put them at odds?
I don’t think so. I think they would have grieved like most parents do when losing a child. It’s a myth that most marriages break up over the loss of a child. Most of them do not. But those with extenuating circumstances often do, and that’s what we have regarding Ava - no body, and a possible rescue seen in a flash of lightning through the pouring rain by Olivia. Now we have her parents at odds as to what they think happened, and we have set the course for conflict between them.
Did you learn anything about yourself in writing OLIVIA'S GHOST?
I realized how much I loved living on the Oregon Coast while having my babies. At the time I felt isolated and a bit resentful that there were not more opportunities for me to connect with other young mothers through organized activities, but now I cherish those years of isolation with my four young children, and the unique environment in which we lived. The beach was literally their playground, and all it took to entertain them was a bucket and shovel. When they were no longer toddlers I ran a school for the ‘Creative Expression of Young Children’ where we did everything kinesthetically through art or theater (I have an art degree). The school was a huge success, and above all else, impressed me with how much kids mean to their parents. This book, ultimately, is about how nothing can compare to, or replace the love we have for our children.
Having no knowledge of boats, the water, or sailing, I found it absolutely frightening the speed at which the squall produced. Do storms over the water like that really come together that quickly and without warning?
Yes. Squalls are storms on steroids and appear to come straight from hell, stirred by the devil himself. You never know when or where they might form in the ocean. Do most people who sail a lot encounter them? No. But they happen often enough that most people have heard of them, or read about them, and certainly, they have happened at one time or another on Puget Sound. Events such as squalls drive home the concept that we are all victims of fate, regardless of how much we think we have planned for safety or security in our lives, it can be stripped away by one momentous act of something unforeseen. In the end, it is our courage, or lack there of, in such situations that truly define us.
***
You can follow Kathryn on Facebook & Twitter. Visit Amazon’s Kathryn Mattingly Page and her website: edgy words unleashed
Olivia's Ghost releases the day after Thanksgiving.
