Windblown: A Novel

by Fern F. Musselwhite

Maya navigates her relationships as she heads for the Florida Keys

When Maya Raymond embarks on a bold new life in the Florida Keys, she escapes more than small-town New England. She leaves behind her beloved father, Charlie, who still grieves for Maya's long-dead mother. But she carries with her the weight of her own failure to reconcile love and loss.

As a fishing guide, she spends her days drifting with the tides, navigating the mangroves better than her tangled relationships. Will she ever set anchor, or will she continue to flee safe harbors for the distant horizon at the edge of the sea?

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2019

About the author

Fern F. Musselwhite is a lawyer and writer, raised in Massachusetts and settled in Florida. After practicing law for many years, Fern found Windblown to be a rewarding submersion in creative writing. She loves the way a sentence or image can turn on a single word. She hopes to bring more of that focus to her readers with future novels.

Fern maintains a loving marriage by happily supporting her husband’s Florida Gators alongside her deep-rooted love of New England sports teams. She enjoys travel and running along wooded trails, far away from the twinkling lights of her modem. Fern is competitive to a fault and willing to play almost any sport or game until her opponent caves. She also believes that donuts are highly under-appreciated.

Reviews

[Jo Lordahl]

Lyrical writing makes this rather sweet tale of a young woman leaving home, growing through adventures, and finally finding happiness - into a satisfying reading experience.

[Jani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something’s still missing in the otherwise comfortable life of Charlie and Maya Raymond. Father and daughter formed a fragile but eventually resilient team starting when Maya was three and her mom, and Charlie’s cherished wife, Sierra, died. Now ready for college, Maya decides instead to venture alone far from their New England home to live and work as a fishing guide in the Florida Keys. Her quest? To piece together what’s missing, to make her life finally feel whole. How will Charlie and Maya survive the distance and years between them? You’re going to like these two compelling characters—their calm and turmoil, their loneliness and hope, their search. Windblown settles into a terrific journey home.

[Ann~Marie Magné · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read! The author gives her characters genuine personalities with believable emotions. There's a bit of geography and weather information, so the locales are easy to imagine with the nicely detailed descriptions. This was my bedtime read for shorter than I expected - I never put it down when I should, because the story was compelling.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t put it down

A great story. Keeping up with the shifts back and forth in time was a challenge for me at times, but I kept wanting to get back to find out what would happen. Found myself tearing up at times or literally covering my mouth knowing something was coming. A perfect beach read!

[Clifford L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Intelligent, moving and well written.

[Michael J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Commonality between author and Reader

It quickly became apparent that the author’s background of life in New England, during her youth, was something we shared. The picture she so aptly painted brought back memories of my own cherished New England upbringing. I could smell the aroma that emanated from a myriad of northeast recipes served up from the North Atlantic. I could feel the sting of a brisk autumn wind on my cheeks. The clincher for me was the stories connection with the sports teams all New Englanders grew to love. However beneath it all I shared the emotion of a mother lost.

[Lisa Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fern F. Musselwhite has brought this story to life, you can smell the salt in the sea breeze from Islamorada, feel the tragedy in Boston…

Windblown will draw you in and make you ponder the choices you have made in your life…are you following your dreams…looking for happiness… or just running from life. It will also make you think, not only about the choices you have made, but also about the choice’s others have made in their life. How did their choice affect their life…and your life? Along with the reasons for the choice’s they made.

This author brings all these thoughts to life, from life in a small town in Massachusetts to Islamorada, Florida, and on to tragedy in Boston involving Charlie. Right or wrong, no one can answer definitively, we must each follow our hearts and learn to live with the consequences of our decisions. One must realize that the hardest part of forgiveness is forgiving yourself as Charlie discovers. And lastly, we must each find our own niche in our own time, as Maya discovered, in order to allow our dreams to blossom and find our own way.

A great read from a talented new author, I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next!

[Berta Winiker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Windblown was a joy to read, richly descriptive with well drawn characters whose emotions were palpable. The sensory details were very dominant, depicting landscape and color especially. You could envision the settings for which the main character, Maya, would be feeling a range of rootedness or wanderlust.
The fishing details and boat mechanics add an additional layer of authenticity, bringing the setting sharply into focus. Fern also uses description of aroma into the kitchen and family scenes, which adds warmth to the gathering of characters.
Windblown is anything but formulaic, with some surprises thrown in which added intrigue to the story. Maya’s resolution on her conflicts was well played out. It was interesting to watch she and her father evolve as she grew up and continued the tradition of their storytelling tradition.
A very impressive debut novel from an author whose work is worth following.

[Ann Boytim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Maya Raymond is getting ready to go to college and decides she needs to move away from home to find what "is out there". May's father is supportive but knows he will be lonely. Mays's mother dies when she was very young and she longs to know more ab out her mother and her parents early life together but her father is still grieving and has devoted his life to raising Maya. Life is the FLorida Keys is very different but Maya settles in and loves being on a fishing boat and as well as going to school learns the trade of fishing boat excursions from some good people. Maya still misses her father and they remain very close even though they are far apart. M\aya is still trying to find her purpose in life and it takes her to different levels in her life.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great new novel with detailed descriptions of scenery that make you feel like you are there. The story touches on one's purpose in life; why can't Maya settle down, even though she seems happy at the present moment? Is there more out there, somewhere? Is she making a difference? The storytelling tradition is a great bonding experience between father and daughter. All in all a good read with a concrete plot. Looking forward to the next great read from this author!

[Missy Gagarin · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the writing was good, with wonderful descriptions and some lyrical passages, I was not entertained or enthralled with this book. I kept waiting for something to happen, which never really did. Maybe others will enjoy the book more than I did.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Loved the descriptive details. Good story with a few unexpected turns of events.

[Julie]

I cried. I laughed. Endearing characters and beautiful settings.