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The Rhythm of SelbyA gently mysterious novel of the South.
Winner of the Bronze Medal for Popular Fiction from the 2009 Independent Publishers Awards and two 2010 Indy Awards for writing and design.
A tragic train derailment, the dying words of one of its victims, a fabled ruby necklace, a strained childhood friendship, a turn-of-the-century attempted murder, a terrifying storm that washes a 150-year-old secret to the surface -- all come together as part of a tangled, multi-generational mystery that eventually takes an entire town to decipher.
Author Marti Healy moved to Aiken, South Carolina, in the summer of 2004. She was immediately captivated by the town’s remarkable history, culture, kindness, and hospitality. She was also completely charmed by its people, houses, horses, and dogs.
With great respect and affection, the author has created the fictional place of Selby, South Carolina – based a great deal on her real experiences and observations, but equally built out of pure imagination.
With gentle wit, masterful descriptions, and well-crafted lyrical writing, the author takes us through all the seasons of her alter ego’s first year in Selby.
The reader soon discovers that Selby has its share of eccentric neighbors and family secrets. Secrets that have haunted their caretakers for more than a century, and still whisper from their graves.
A unique and compelling sense of place is created on every page. In fact, the town of Selby itself is, perhaps, one of the most important characters of the book. To enhance its sense of presence and beauty, the book features captivating photography throughout its pages by a renowned local photographer, Shelly Marshall Schmidt.
The book has been called “as warm and comforting as a morning bowl of grits.” Another reviewer believes that, once you’ve been to Selby, “you may never look at your own hometown in the same way” again. And it has been likened to “a gift to be opened with care and treasured word for word.”
The reader is invited to proceed slowly: to savor all the moments, the sights, scents, sounds and experiences for oneself – to personally enter into The Rhythm of Selby.
Photo Credit: The beautiful photographs throughout the book are by Shelly Marshall Schmidt, and are available through her studio. If interested, please contact her directly: shelly@ohschmidt.com
To order this book please visit your favorite independent bookstore or Amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, or www.indiebound.org.
Reviews
"Marti Healy’s novel, The Rhythm of Selby, is as warm and comforting as a morning bowl of grits. This is not a story of murder and mayhem, but a much more sedate mystery that speaks about the people of the South and their culture ... It is a gift to be opened with care and treasured word for word.”
~ Jeffrey B. Wallace - Editor, Aiken Standard
“With her gift of capturing details of places and painting pictures with words, author Marti Healy puts the reader on the scene, capturing a sense of place in a small Southern town. Once you read The Rhythm of Selby, you may never again look at your own home town in the same way.”
~ Idella Bodie - Author of Carolina Girl, and numerous other historical novels set in the South
“In this wonderfully imaginative novel, Marti Healy has captured the quintessential nature of a small southern town. Her ever-curious mind led her to diligently observe people, places and events and she has woven them into an intricate interactive story. Her personalities evolve subtly with insight, love and humor, so that one senses that you have known them all your life. The mystery that is pondered in the opening pages sneaks up on you slowly, gently and compassionately. When you finish this story, you want to immediately go back to page one and read it again.”
~ Penny Alexander - Aiken, South Carolina
