Karen Kelly didn’t quit when Vantage Point, the publisher that offered to print her first novel, Prospice, suddenly closed its doors. Instead, the Edina mom self-published the book under her own trademark, Legitur Books. Prospice, which means “look ahead” in Latin, was released in hardcover in June and paperback in August; it has garnered praise throughout the independent wing of the publishing industry.
“This is truly impressive fiction,” writes Daniel Slager, CEO of Minneapolis-based Milkweed Editions. “The characters are highly compelling, the dialogue is lively and entirely real and the storyline is very well-drawn, touching on a set of fascination, often underexplored dynamics. I found the novel fascinating on the whole.”
Prospice, set in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, tells the story of a woman struggling to continue after losing her husband in the war. Caroline finds second love in Tom, who also lost his spouse. But their teenage step-siblings, Dinah and Tru, also develop a simmering, undeniable attraction to one another, pitting the characters against extraordinary hurdles.
“Before this I hadn’t really done any writing, not even a short story, except, of course, for a lot of essays in college,” says Kelly, who studied British and American literature at Vanderbilt University and, while raising a family, has volunteered for several local organizations, including Children’s Cancer Research Fund. “Writing a novel is something I had long wanted to do, but didn’t think I had the time for until at least a couple of our kids went away to college.”
Prospice is available for $24.95 ($17.95 paperback) at local bookstores upon request, or at prospiceanovel.com.
