Title:
Sifting Through Mud
Author:
Demetria Foster Gray
Release
date: August 14th, 2014
Genre:
Contemporary
Book
Description:
The death of Nyla's husband comes
as a shock to everyone except Nyla. What’s shocking to Nyla is her inability to
grieve his death like a typical loving wife should grieve. But Nyla isn't a
typical loving wife. She's a woman in desperate need to breathe. The oxygen in
her life has long gone, and the astonishing thing she feels from her husband's
death is relief, not grief.
Even more astonishing is the rare
and unexpected friendship which develops between Nyla and her dead husband's
mistress. However, Nyla isn’t aware her new best friend is a former mistress.
And as their friendship deepens into an unshakable bond, Nyla is forced to face
secrets her husband took with him to his grave. This means she has to sift
through mud to unravel the truth. A truth that’s better off dead.
Yet through it all, the one thing
which makes Nyla violently breathless, is the exact same thing that causes her
to finally breathe.
Book Excerpt
Nathan is in the family
room watching sports on TV. My handbag and car keys are on the foyer table next
to the flower arrangement I sent myself yesterday for our twentieth wedding
anniversary. I grab my keys, my handbag, and open the front door. I pause in
the doorway to look back over my shoulder, at the life I lived here. Then
silently, almost invisibly, I walk out the door.
I have no idea where I’m going. All I feel is the
overwhelming burden of where I’ve been. The toll and heaviness of an undesired
life. For now, a hotel will have to do. One where no one can find me, and has
big, fluffy pillows to hold my tears and muffle my screams. Tomorrow, when
Nathan’s at work, I’ll go back for a few personal things. All I have now are
the clothes on my back—clothes which are hanging wearily from my marriage-torn
body.
The truth of the matter is, I’m a murderer. I’ve killed the
one person who could’ve saved me—myself. I’ve traveled down this lifeless road
for far too long, and now I’m stuck in blandness. I miss the flavor of life.
The pleasure and joy of actually feeling feelings, instead of faking feelings.
Faking joy, faking happiness. I’m living life without the spice of life and
it’s taking its toll on me.
But thank God the dead has now risen, and it’s time for me
to take back my life. To absolve my death. Which is precisely what I did over
dinner this evening while Nathan was eating in front of the TV, and I was
dining alone at the kitchen table. I asked myself two questions: (1) How much
longer can I play a role that’s no longer suited for me?, and (2) How much
longer can I hold my breath when all I want to do is breathe? The answers to
those questions are what caused me to rise from the table, grab my handbag, and
walk out the door.
The thing is, I don’t know how to love my husband anymore.
Or if I ever loved him at all. It seems I did. I must have. But I just don’t
know anymore. It’s exhausting spinning your wheels in a marriage that doesn’t
seem to move. Not forward, not backwards, just stalled. Stagnant. A lot of
bitterness accompanies stagnation. A lot of anger. A lot of slicing each other
apart, and chewing each other up. It’s treacherous. It’s sad. It’s time to move
on.
After driving for a half hour to the next town, I find a
nice hotel with clean, spacious rooms, a deep Jacuzzi tub, fresh linens, and a
complimentary hot breakfast in the morning. Nathan will be calling me when it
becomes the middle of the night and I haven’t returned home. He’ll wonder where
I am with a slight bit of concern. Or perhaps he’ll sleep like a log through
the night and never give my absence a second thought. Either way, I’ve turned
off my cell phone. His concern or lack of concern is no longer an issue for me.
About
the Author:
Demetria Foster Gray is a novelist, freelance
writer, and communications consultant. She earned a degree in Marketing
Communications and spent the bulk of her career writing for the corporate
world. Creating fictional characters and building stories has always been her
first love. A native of the Chicago, IL area, Demetria now lives in North
Carolina with her husband and two children. Sifting
Through Mud is her debut novel. Visit Demetria at www.demetriafostergray.com
Author
Links:
Website: DemetriaFosterGray.com
Facebook: DemetriaFosterGray.Author
Giveaway
Prize: 25
USD Amazon Gift Card + Copy of the book for the 1st winner.
15 USD
Amazon Gift Card + Copy of the book for the 1st winner
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Schedule: http://irresistiblereadstour.wordpress.com/2014/07/26/tour-sifting-through-mud-by-demetria-foster-gray/
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