What happens When Two Women Die? They become legends. Patricia Goodwin has written an exciting new thriller, When Two Women Die: An Historical Novella of Marblehead, Telling of Two Murders Which Happened There, 301 Years Apart. In 1690, a mysterious Englishwoman was killed in the colonial fishing village of Marblehead, Massachusetts by pirates who came ashore one night and committed a brutal murder while a peaceful town slept - or tried to sleep. The woman's cries could be heard all over town as she begged for her life. All the able-bodied men in Marblehead were over 500 miles away fishing at the Grand Banks in Newfoundland. The only townspeople left, women, children and old men, shivered in their beds as the woman pleaded for mercy from violent men. Legend says the woman's unheeded screams can still be heard. 301 years later, not far from the first, another murder was committed in Marblehead, a place nearly unchanged by time. In modern day, in a place so beautiful, no one can imagine anything bad happening. A woman went sailing with her neighbor. He killed her. Both women were killed by pirates. In 1690, the psychic Ed Dimond and, in 1991, his descendant Cassandra Diamond Hawkes, try to warn the townspeople of impending danger. Why didn't they listen? Patricia Goodwin has written a fictional thriller linking two murders, and two women, who died and became legends in a beautiful seacoast town layered with historic mystery: in 1690, a simple town of fishermen, pirates, and a few officials; in 1991, a sophisticated town full of wealthy professionals and their families; old, stalwart Yankees; and a few men who still make their living by the sea. Patricia Goodwin is a poet and writer who lives and works in an historic seacoast town. For more information about the author, other work, book trailers and events, please visit patriciagoodwin.com. Readers' Comments: Angela Masciale, psychiatric nurse "I read When Two Women Die during Hurricane Irene. I was reading about a hurricane during a hurricane! Amazing! I couldn't put the book down! I loved the language of the 17th Century and I loved the way the author recreated life during those times. Towards the end, I had to skip ahead and find out what happened on that sailboat. I couldn't wait any longer! Then I went back and read what I had missed. I was very distracted with work while I read the beginning, so I went back and re-read that too!" Joan Levine, Health Care Administrator: "I read the book while I was on vacation. I couldn't put it down. I tried to read the whole thing at once, but finally had to go to bed. I woke up the next morning, and when I could have slept in, I got up and finished it! Besides the lovely seacoast and garden descriptions, I especially love the relationships these valuable women had with their friends and family. It was obvious to me that any one of them could have been killed at any time." Judy Sloane, retired dancer and teacher: "Patricia Goodwin has written an old town tale as beautiful and ruthless as the sea."
About the Author: Patricia Goodwin grew up in an Italian-American neighborhood outside of Boston. She was the first in her family to finish high school and go on to college. She graduated cum laude from Salem State University, Salem, MA where she earned a BA in English Literature. In the early days of the natural foods movement, she created and taught macrobiotic educational programs for the East West Foundation, Brookline, MA (now the Kushi Institute, Becket, MA). She has practiced the macrobiotic discipline since 1974. Patricia has written many articles of non-fiction, which have appeared in publications such as The Boston Herald, The Record American, American Express OnTime, AAA Horizons, The Marblehead Reporter and The North Shore Sunday. "A Child's Christmas in Revere", a chapter from her novel, Holy Days was published in the anthology, Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America (Seal Press, 2004). Her poetry has been published in Marblehead Magazine, IndeArts, Runes, nthposition.com, Pemmican Press, and Radius: Poetry from the Center to the Edge, among others. In 2012, her poem "the last day" will be published in The Potomac. She has three books of poetry: Marblehead Moon (Plum Press, 1993), Java Love (Plum Press, 1997), and Atlantis (Plum Press, 2006). Patricia lives with her husband and daughter in an historic seacoast town in Massachusetts. For more information about the author, including new work, events, and videos, please visit patriciagoodwin.com.