title: The Truth About Celia: A novel
author:  Kevin Brockmeier 
description: In his well-received story collection (Things That Fall from the Sky), Brockmeier was hailed as a writer of sinuous, startling prose. That skill is on full display again in this haunting, subdued debut novel, presented as if written by one Christopher Brooks, a science-fiction writer. In 1997, Christopher lives happily with his wife, Janet, and seven-year-old daughter, Celia, in a beautifully preserved 19th-century house in a peaceful small town. One morning, while Celia and her father are home alone, Celia vanishes from the backyard. There are no clues, no suspects. In successive stand-alone chapters, Brockmeier wanders ever further from a straight recounting of events. He describes the aftermath of Celia's disappearance from the perspective of the community at large, then turns Celia's story into a fantasy about an otherworldly green-skinned child, and finally imagines Celia in a new incarnation as a single mother called Stephanie. Christopher's and Janet's numbness-they show little rage, frustration or grief-is skillfully rendered, if sometimes oppressively subtle. Christopher lives in a hazy world of guilt, while Janet commits a few quiet acts of rebellion, disrupting the showing of a movie and finally drifting away from her husband. Brockmeier's prose is measured and lovely, and he sketches a number of eerie and compelling scenes, including those in which Christopher believes he receives telephone calls from the missing Celia on a toy phone that she treasured. The fragmented narration may deflect some readers, but others will cherish Brockmeier's seductive turns of phrase and sharp imagination.<br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  Her Christmas Pleasure  
  By Karen Erickson
  
  Damien Morton is madly in love. Unfortunately, it's with his best friend's
  widow, Lady Danver. Damien is not worthy of Celia. Or so he thinks. Desperate
  to escape his feelings for her, he plans to leave the country at the first of
  the year. Celia treats him as a family friend and nothing more—until they
  share a heated kiss beneath the mistletoe…
  
  Celia is shocked by the passions that surge within her at her dear friend's
  kiss. One touch and one taste aren't enough to satisfy her cravings, and she
  is startled into action. Damien has stirred something inside her that she
  never expected to experience again, and she must have more. Full of shameless
  desire and emotions newly discovered, she decides to pursue Damien and won't
  be deterred. Will she be able to convince him to stay—both in her heart and
  life—forever?
  
  20,000 words
  
    
    
  
  Dear Reader,
  
  What do you get when you cross summer with lots of beach time, and