Excitement…Danger…Travel…Romance What more could any young man want? In her poignant but often humorous historical novel, A Distant Whistle , author Kay Meredith plumbs the depths of the universal truths and timeless emotions of family passions, struggles, courage, and love. While set in the hills of Appalachia, along the Ohio River during the early 1900s, the breadth of the lessons learned are universal. Escaping a poverty stricken, volatile home life is Nev’s driving motivation. Can the seductively haunting whistles of the steamboats that ply the Ohio River lure him away with promises of adventure and independence? He dreams of becoming an engineer on one of these magnificent vessels and carving out his own destiny. Guilt, however, becomes Nev’s frequent travelling companion. By abandoning his family to pursue his own quest, has he sacrificed his younger siblings to suffer the wrath of their mother? Torn between fear for their welfare and love of his new life, his emotional struggles weigh heavily on his heart. Where does his allegiance truly lie? Like a river itself, Nev’s journey winds through not only his personal conflicts, but the catastrophic events of the early 1900s that will leave no life unscathed; the 1913 Flood which leaves an “inland sea” that decimates the entire infrastructure along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers; WWI that obliterates the dream of security offered by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the Spanish Flu Pandemic that descends bringing a global pestilence killing tens of millions of people. For the first time in history people cannot escape the ramifications of worldwide events over which they have no control. Is it possible that amid the chaotic aftermath of the internal and external struggles confronting Nev and his family, they can discover compassion, reconciliation, and forgiveness for one another? In this riveting exploration of personal relationships, we find parallels in our own lives and insights from which we may all learn.