Brianne Sommerville will be hosting a book signing in Newmarket Aug. 17<\/p>\n
Newmarket native\u00a0Brianne Sommerville’s\u00a0newest novel,\u00a0What She Left Behind, is a gripping small-town mystery that delves into the complex topics of grief and mental health.<\/p>\n
What She Left Behind follows one woman who becomes entwined in the decades-old death of a teenager and is driven to uncover dark secrets hidden in the small town\u2019s tragic past, the author said in a news release.<\/p>\n
Inspired by her own teenage diary entries, Sommerville tackles the epistolary form, interspersing her main narrative with first-person diary entries from troubled teen Lark Peters, whose mysterious suicide rocked a small Ontario town 15 years earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had an idea to explore the story of a young woman\u2019s suspicious death and the secrets that still surround it, and then one day I was reading an old diary of mine when I was 16\u00a0and the angsty voice thrust me viscerally back to those days,\u201d said Sommerville. \u201cAt that moment, I knew I wanted to feature a teenaged perspective in this novel \u2014 the weight of high school amplifying Lark\u2019s turmoil. I wanted readers to read it first-hand from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sommerville studied English literature at Queen\u2019s University, where she discovered her love of creative writing, performing at open mic poetry nights and writing and directing theatrical productions. But it wasn\u2019t until she had her first-born daughter that her passion for writing fiction truly ignited.<\/p>\n
During her maternity leave \u2014 amid nap times and sleepless nights \u2014 she found inspiration and drafted her debut domestic thriller If I Lose Her,\u00a0published in March 2024. Now, with her sophomore thriller, coming Aug. 12 with Rising Action Publishing and Simon & Schuster, she once again uses her experience to explore complex topics, striving for sensitivity and emotional richness as she crafts her propulsive thrillers.<\/p>\n
About What She Left Behind<\/p>\n
Recently fired and adrift, Charlotte Boyd agrees to oversee renovations on her parents\u2019 small-town summer home that holds a tragic past. After discovering a diary hidden among the junk left behind by previous owners, Charlotte connects with its author \u2014 a troubled teen named Lark Peters who died by suicide at the house 16 years ago.<\/p>\n
When an unsettling incident forces Charlotte to seek refuge at the local pub, regulars, including the police, warn her about Lark\u2019s older brother, Darryl, who has become a recluse since Lark\u2019s death and may know more than he\u2019s letting on. But Charlotte sees a side of Darryl others don\u2019t, being an outsider herself.<\/p>\n
In a search to uncover the truth, Charlotte must question those closest to Lark and reconcile her own past trauma \u2014 because if Lark was actually murdered, then whoever is responsible might be lurking in Charlotte\u2019s own backyard.<\/p>\n
Meet the author<\/p>\n
What She Left Behind is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook on Aug. 12 and can be purchased online through Amazon, Indigo, Barnes & Noble and local independent bookstores. Sommerville will also be signing copies at the following locations in York Region:<\/p>\n
\n\tWednesday, Aug. 13, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Supermarket Bar in Toronto (free launch event with onsite bookseller Blue Heron Books)
\n\tSaturday, Aug. 16, from noon\u00a0to 3 p.m. at Indigo Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill
\n\tSunday, Aug. 17, from noon\u00a0to 4\u00a0p.m. at Chapters Newmarket
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