A Widow's Silhouette by Basil Opurum

Spanning more than three decades, A Widow’s Silhouette successfully merges a wartime love story with realistic glimpses of daily life during the Biafran-Nigerian civil war and the reconstruction period afterward. When Jane’s parents’ finances begin to dwindle, her education abruptly ends. She relocates to live with her uncle Bryan and work as his secretary and an attendant at his gas station. One day she meets Bryan’s friend John, who falls deeply in love with her but is already married. John is torn between his late father’s wish for his marriage and his love for Jane. Is divorce an option? Set against a turbulent background of riots, civil war, and bloodshed, this tour de force follows not only the powerful story of Jane, but also the trials of her brother Michael and the beautiful Ugonma, whose lover, Ndubueze, deceives her and forces her into a life of prostitution. An eloquent and evocative work of historical fiction, this novel’s haunting voice and lush scenes will leave you breathless.

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MARGARET FIELAND INTERVIEW (guest blogger)

When did you first know you were destined to be a writer? LOL, I never realized I was destined to be a writer -- I fell into it. I'd written poetry for years, collecting it in notebooks stacked in my attic when I wrote one I wanted to keep. This led me to several online sites and ultimately to discovering the Muse Online Writers Conference where I hooked up with Linda Barnett Johnson and joined her writers forums. She required everyone to write both fiction and poetry, so, with much trepidation, I started writing fiction. Then I got hooked on it, wrote a chapter book, took the ICL course and actually learned how to write it. Then in 2010, I was seized by a desire to write a sci fi novel, so I spent six weeks or so on world building, mostly, with a bit of plotting thrown in for good measure. Who would you cite as your influences? I'm a way-back sci-fi fan, and Robert A. Heinlein influenced me heavily. I took a lot away from his writing, notably the value of surpris...

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