FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sara Sgarlat, Publicity Director
434-296-2772, ext. 49
ssgarlat@hrpub.com

The Healer of Harrow Point
a novel
by Peter Walpole

“Luminous”
—Denver Post

“A beautifully written, magical story of a young boy’s coming of age the mystery and majesty of nature come wonderfully alive. A book to be treasured.”
—George Garrett

     As Thomas Singer approaches his twelfth birthday, he is filled with both excitement and dread. It happens to fall on the opening day of deer hunting season and, for the first time, Thomas will be of age to join his father in this annual rite. However, Thomas has some serious misgivings about living up to his father’s expectations. Although he looks forward to the shotgun he knows he will receive on his birthday, he is uncertain as to whether he can actually kill a living creature and often retreats to the woods where he tries to come to terms with his dilemma.

     It is there where he meets Emma, an old woman who, through magic or miracle, can not only cure sick and wounded animals but can even bring them back from the dead. Becoming Emma’s secret friend and watching her work with animals triggers a desire within Thomas—the desire to preserve life. Through Emma, Thomas begins to understand that there is a connection among all living things and that respect for life around him is sacred. Now he has to come to terms with his father’s expectations of him as they conflict with his new discoveries. This struggle between loyalties and love ultimately comes to a head in a moment of crisis and violence on his long anticipated birthday.

     In a coming-of-age young adult novel that addresses larger issues of spirituality and the connection of all life, Thomas learns that following your own path can be filled with pain and loneliness, but that sacrifice can ultimately open up your heart to the joy and love that surround us all. We are very pleased to be presenting The Healer of Harrow Point, this first novel of Peter Walpole. A talented writer, Walpole weaves a compelling tale of transformation and understanding as a young boy comes to terms with the complexity of the world and of the sacrifices he must make in order to become himself.

May 2000, 5½ x 8½, Trade Paper, $11.95, 131 pages, ISBN 1-57174-167-4