If you like stories that bring a tear and a smile, join a crotchety professor, his psychic wife, tech-guru daughter, clever grandchildren, and loyal best friends on a journey to overcome a past tragedy. As in any family story, there's laughter and love between the troubled times. The clever dialogue, surprising humor, and poignant ending will make you feel as if the Andrew Ward family is just like your own. Editorial Praise for To Leave a Memory "A warm portrait of a family coming together to forgive ... the colorful dialogue keeps the story moving ... There's a pleasing amount of healthy talk about sex ... Forgiveness comes in moments sentimental but tender, and even Andrew Ward's post-stroke syntax has a chance to shine." — Kirkus Reviews "You've written a wonderful story. By the end, the characters become like family to the reader. — Jean Jenkins, Editor, San Diego "Debut author, Pat Dunlap Evans has written a poignant literary novel that explores an ordinary couple's enduring relationship years after a family tragedy. The story is told from the point of view of both the husband and wife who are reminiscent of Henry and Olive in Pulitzer prize winning Elizabeth Stout's novel, Olive Kitteridge. The writing is crisp and the ending takes a surprising turn. — Lara Reznik, best-selling Amazon author of The Girl From Long Guyland To Leave a Memory — What's it About? When history professor Andrew Ward ignores his wife Lizzy's premonition that something will happen if he allows their son to go out one stormy night, tragedy strikes. Andrew is too anguished to admit he was wrong. Over the years, he and Lizzy drift into avoidance. Forgotten in the marital divide, young daughter Jane can't forgive her brother's death. Nor can Andrew's brother Thomas, an arrogant millionaire and a perpetual prickle in Andrew's side. When Lizzy decides to leave, Jane — who is now a tech guru and mother of three — urges her mother to repair her marriage. But Lizzy's best friend Ouisie, a strong-willed Black American, encourages Lizzy to go her own way. While Lizzy tries to make up her mind, Andrew hides in his office, trying to write a grand apologia to atone for his heartbreaking error. But when a second tragedy strikes, each family member faces a choice that no one wants to make. And Andrew must find the way to atone for his mistake and leave a memory. "A warm portrait of a family coming together to forgive... the colorful dialogue keeps the story moving... There's a pleasing amount of healthy talk about sex... Forgiveness comes in moments sentimental but tender, and even Andrew's post-stroke syntax has a chance to shine."-- Kirkus Reviews "You've written a wonderful story. By the end, the characters have become as much family to the reader as they are to each other."-- Jean Jenkins , Editor, San Diego, MSRewrite.com "Debut author, Pat Dunlap Evans has written a poignant literary novel thatexplores an ordinary couple's enduring relationship years after a family tragedy. The story is told from the point of view of both the husbandand wife who are reminiscent of Henry and Olive in Pulitzer prizewinning Elizabeth Stout's novel, Olive Kitteridge . The writing is crisp and the ending takes a surprising turn."-- Lara Reznik , best-selling Amazon author of The Girl From Long Guyland and The M&M Boys In graduate school at the University of Missouri branch in Kansas City, I was struggling in my first creative writing class that I'd taken on awhim. My first short story received a "C," which was like a knife in myheart. I'm a competitive spirit and suddenly I wanted to do thisthing well: create characters that were alive with the joys and sorrowsof life. My next assignment was to write an opening paragraph for fourdifferent novels, each with different narrative voices. I was sonervous I could barely type, so I loosened up by having a beer. When Ibegan writing the first-person segment, the character of Andrew spoke to me, saying, "I'm not concerned about getting old and bald and fat. Irather expected to be. But what concerns me are my memories. Who willhave them when I'm gone? Not memories of me, mind you, but my ownmemories..." When I presented my paragraph to the class, one of myclassmates made a point to say, "But that's Proust!"--as though I hadplagiarized the famous author. But I had never read Proust. Regardless,the idea of communicating one's memories stuck with me, and over time Iwanted to find a way to help Andrew convey his. The story haschanged along the way, with the addition of very strong characters inLizzy, Ouisie, Jane and the grandkids. In the end, it has become afamily story, with communication and forgiveness at its core. Please let me know if you enjoy this story. If so, you might also try mymystery-thriller OUT AND IN. It's heartfelt too, as much about a woman's emotional journey as "who done it." Male readers may not like OUT ANDIN as much as TO LEAVE A MEMORY though. Tears of sorrow. Tea