Ripples

by Eva Seyler

Alice Rothmann has been content with her quiet, ordinary life in Oxford with her quiet, ordinary husband. But when he dies suddenly, she finds herself adrift and lonely, and before she knows it she’s deeply attracted to her neighbour, George Graham.

There’s only one George is married to Alice’s best friend.

Genres: Historical Fiction, World War I, Fiction

59 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 28, 2021

About the author

Eva was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She left that humidity pit at the age of three and spent the next twenty-one years in California, Idaho, Kentucky, and Washington before ending up in Oregon, where she now lives on a homestead in the western foothills with her husband and five children, two of whom are human.

Eva cannot remember a time when she couldn’t read, and has spent her life devouring books. In her early childhood years, she read and re-read The Boxcar Children, The Trumpet of the Swan, anything by Johanna Spyri or A A Milne, and any issues of National Geographic with illustrated articles about mummified, skeletonised, and otherwise no-longer-viable people.

As a teenager she was a huge fan of Louisa May Alcott and Jane Eyre.

As an adult she enjoys primarily historical fiction (adult or YA) and nonfiction on a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, history, disaster, survival, dead people, and the reasons people become dead. Audiobooks are her jam, and the era of World War One is her historical pet.

Eva began writing stories when very young and wrote almost constantly until she was 25, after which she took a years-long break before coming back to pursue her old dream of becoming a published author for real. She loves crafting historical fiction that brings humanity to real times and events that otherwise might seem impersonal and distant, and making doodles to go with them.

When Eva is not writing, she is teaching her human children, eating chocolate, cooking or baking, wasting time on Twitter, and making weird shrieky noises every time she sees her non-human children. Also enjoys driving in snow when opportunity arises, because snow is the bomb.

https://linktr.ee/theevaseyler

Reviews

[Karen Heenan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, but sweet

A brief, evocative love story that tells the tale of George Graham, a secondary character in the author's earlier novel, The War in Our Hearts., and how he blew up his life for love. Married George and widowed Alice are an unlikely couple, but maybe that's why they work. Their gradual falling in love, and that love's repercussions, is beautifully handled, and I appreciated the quiet realism of their attempt at the happily ever after that they deserve.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the more George we all wanted. Proof of how beautifully 3 dimensional Eva Seyler's characters are, this George is so much more than the scoundrel his brother thinks he is. Touching, tragic and ultimately uplifting, this is a beautiful novella.

[Fayelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodness.

Heavens, as always, so lovely. So sad. So heartbreaking, so joyful and elegantly written. One of my faves. Such a great little story to follow The War In Our Hearts.

[Sydney Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous—and I hadn’t read the book this prequels. An interesting and beautifully written short story or novella of a complicated relationship and how it came to be. Made me feel the feels, not a word wasted. I loved the audio narration.

[Laurie Wilhelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good short story!

[Eva Seyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this in response to many readers of The War in Our Hearts who begged for more George. The subject of marital infidelity is a bit of a triggery one for me, but it's impossible to write about George and not address it, so... it is what it is. I think my favourite thing about this story is Alice, because it gave me a lot more understanding of who she is that will help in another book coming down the pipeline.

Edit on 2022-06-15: The abovementioned book is now on Goodreads and can be added! The Summer I Found Home continues the saga, but from Alice's son's POV.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The War In Our Hearts (TWIOH) was a recent, 5 star read for me. I wanted to read more about George, the brother of the main character in TWIOH. Eva Seyler is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine.

This was an easy read and I really liked this book a lot. Having read TWIOH, and knowing how these 2 brothers grew up. I wanted to learn more about how that upbringing affected George in the same way I understood his twin. I think that would have helped me to like and connect more with him. Despite that, this is still a very strong 4 star read for me!

[Colleen Maclennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read. The ripple effect is usually true .Our actions / decisions whether positive or negative generally effect others the same way. This read is a love story that survived some heart wrenching events.