Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Local author sets new book in Montgomery County
WHITPAIN » It’s always fun to read the work of an author who’s written about your hometown.
Local author Mary Cantell has set her just-released second novel, “Untying the Shadows,” in the affluent town ranked 14th on the list of “100 best places to live in the U.S.” by Money magazine, a prosperous burg that only fairly recently landed its first Starbucks: Blue Bell.
“Blue Bell is a memorable name. When I first heard of Blue Bell I thought, ‘what an odd name.’ And while it is a real town, it sounds fictiony,” said the well-known former broadcast reporter and author of countless pieces that have appeared in such publications as Light and Life magazine, Main Line Times, The Times Herald and The Vision.
All landmarks, such as parks, are rechristened with fictional names in the book, allowed Cantell, who had referenced the Main Line area of St. Davids in her previous book, “Her Glass Heart.”
“Everything I talk about in the book is based on my neighborhood and my home (which are not in Blue Bell, Cantell noted), but I don’t mention the Wawa or anything like that. I don’t go into that kind of detail,” Cantell said.
“All parks are sort of generic, very Americana-ish,” noted Cantell, who believes many readers will relate to the geographical reference, much as they do with many other authors, including Lucy Maud Montgomery (“Anne of Green Gables”) and Ann Rivers Siddons (“Colony.”)
“(Author) Lisa Scottoline is in Chester County and writes about local stuff. One of her latest books has all King of Prussia references … the mall, the Schuylkill Expressway. I know the ladies flock to Prince Edward Island because that’s where ‘Anne of Green Gables’ was set. We were up in Maine and I realized that Ann Rivers Siddons’ book was set there, the same way that someone may (recall) that my book, ‘Her Glass Heart,’ was set on a college campus on Philadelphia’s Main Line.”
Siddons alluded to wellknown landmarks in her book, but obscured some details so as to protect the privacy of residents, Cantell pointed out.
“It’s all fiction, but you could figure it out at some point,” she added. “Whether (details) are fictionalized or not, people really get a kick out of it, and so do I.”
From the compelling description of “Untying the Shadows” posted on Amazon.com, where the book is available and garnering dozens of favorable reviews: “A picture on Facebook, an out-of-town wedding, an unexpected encounter ... all help to bring a woman one step closer to solving a decades-old mystery. Tess Thompson always hoped the mystery surrounding her father’s untimely death only days after Christmas when she was a child would one day be solved. Years later, a nostalgic glimpse back calls her to seek out the truth surrounding his cold-case murder for which, oddly, the police have no case record. While visiting her father’s hometown in Florida, the keys to her past slowly turn. Old family secrets and hidden motives surface beyond what she could ever imagine as she tries to bring closure to the haunting puzzle.”
“Untying the Shadows” is published by eLectio, a publisher of Christian-based works. In that respect, Cantell said her writing is “wholesome and entertaining contemporary fiction,” containing “mystery and/ or a romance element with historic back story and inspirational messages for women” at its core.
“It’s clean, but not like the Amish Christian fiction. To call it Christian fiction would probably be a misnomer because it’s not preachy,” she said. “The protagonist’s world view is a Christian world view, but you don’t see anything about abstaining from sex or anything like that. In the first book, there was a message about when reaching for any kind of love we can find, we think we’re looking for gold or silver but it turns out to be tinsel. You need to love yourself by yourself before you can throw yourself at a man and expect to be fulfilled. People are always looking to get fulfilled by another person’s love and they’re going to fall short. A lot of times women pick the wrong man because it’s just someone to love. So there was a message to that book,” Cantell said. “But with this new book, ‘Untying the Shadows,’ that subject never comes up.”
For more information, visit marycantell.com, where you’ll also find a link to the book on Amazon.