Between Will And Surrender by Margaret Duarte – A Visionary Fiction Book Review by Bernadine Chapman-Cruz

Between Will And Surrender is Margaret Duarte’s first novel in a Visionary Fiction series, Enter the Between. Set in California’s Los Padres National Forest and the early California Missions, the story comes alive with historical legend, lore and native culture to create the perfect arena for a mystic awakening of mind, heart and soul.

Protagonist, Marjorie Veil, a young successful entrepreneur’s dilemma triggered by strange, yet somewhat intrinsic familiar voices, finds herself summoned on a quest for truth and understanding. The clandestine connection is intangible, but eventually leads her to embrace something even more real and meaningful than the structured world to which she is accustomed.

Supporting characters, introduced throughout the novel, each lend to plot development and uncanny relationships. The author incorporates strategically placed clues: an encounter with a mute child; a fire opal; other precious stones; and an old mirror with a history of the original owner the easily meld together to lay a path to enlightenment and discovery.

Duarte’s descriptive usage of the written word paints pictures that enhance the reader’s active participation throughout the novel. Vivid visuals ” ..… a ripple of cool cypress scented air whispered past us and we both shivered; …. Morgan’s skin was slightly weathered, his scent spicy like perfectly steeped tea; …. a breeze whipped through the ponderosa pines and the scorched, fire-stiffened branches causing them to sway, as if waving me on;…. perched on the edge of a chair, my muscles contracted ready to unfurl like a taut spring;” tantalize the senses, compelling the reader to jump right into the pages side by side with the heroine on her paranormal adventure of meaning and discovery.

The intriguing novel, Between Now And Surrende, takes the reader full circle, tapping into the mysteries of the unknown and one’s ability to realize there is more to life than meets the eye.