There's a bizarre funeral, a victrola in a car trunk, and a lot of Irish sass. The novella opens at a funeral for a grumpy old man. The only people there are distant, money-grabbing relatives. That is, until a strange woman walks in, holds the hand of the deceased, and walks out, leaving everyone confused and intrigued. Before this woman of mystery leaves the funeral, she tells the guests that she and the deceased were once engaged.
The story then flashes back to the morning she found out about the funeral, giving us a bit of insight into this woman named Claire Ryan and why she felt the need to attend this funeral. After this, the story goes back to her childhood, growing up in the immigrant quarter of Chicago in the 1930s...
Juliana Nicewarner is the daughter of a Marine, which means that she has lived in twenty-odd houses in her twenty-odd years. She has pursued many things in her life, working as everything from a logistics manager for guiding companies to an equine veterinary assistant. She has to stay busy, and while the one constant passion in her life has been writing, she continues to pursue anything and everything she can. She lives in Denver where she is the singer and manager of a Colorado-based jazz band, works as a substitute teacher, is a sometimes editor, and an all the time writer. Her work has been published in local travel guides and more than once by Adelaide Literary Magazine. Her passion is for reading and writing well-written stories that focus on the real and the inexplicable things encountered in everyday life.
