The Summer Place — Veronica Sweeney

About this Book
A bag lady is pulled from a burning summer cottage on the outskirts of the small New Brunswick community of Chokecherry. Due to trauma, she has no memory of who she is. The staff at the small regional hospital nick-name her “Doe”. The kind-hearted young farmer, Tom Bounce, who rescued the woman, befriends her and gives her employment on his farm, helping with the Percheron horses that he breeds, despite the misgivings of his ex-wife, Callie. Doe, having no past, is a figure of conjecture in Chokecherry, inspiring empathy in some and suspicion in others. As the summer progresses she becomes something of a catalyst, not only for Tom and Callie, but for other members of the small community. Many are facing their own pasts and their futures, and this brings to light not only Doe's secrets, but other tensions, that have long been suppressed.


Biography
Veronica Sweeney was born in Sydney, Australia. Her mother taught her to read at age three, and she wrote her first poem aged four; she has continued writing ever since. With a strong interest in history, she was enjoying the researching and writing of her first novel so much that it took nearly ten years to complete. This was the 1,048 page The Emancipist, which has been reprinted many times and gained world-wide praise and respect for its depiction of the Great Famine in Ireland and early Australian history. She added Geoghegan to her name in honour of her great-grandmother, Rose, and Rose's parents, both sent to Australia as convicts from Ireland during the Famine. The publisher of her second novel insisted that she drop Geoghegan from her name ‘in order to make room on the cover' and she feels this has confused many of her readers. For the future, her historical novels will be written under Veronica Geoghegan Sweeney and her modern mystery novels under Veronica Sweeney.
Veronica continues acting and singing, working with the young Canadian composer, Nealson Craig, while continuing her writing. The Summer Place is her sixth novel, and the first to become an ebook. She is currently working on a series of mystery novels set in 19th century Ireland, and a series of Young Adult novels entitled, Dead Pirates. The first in this series, Dead Pirates and the Exceptional Children will be published on Amazon in May, 2011.

List of Works
The Emancipist
South lies the Valley
A Turn of the Blade
Dark Obsession
Dark Lord of Geeragh