In The Foam Of The Blue Waves
In a precarious forest shack over California’s Russian River, two women wait out a storm and reflect on the third, missing, member of their family: the husband, the father, the wandering troubled soul. Nicholas is a missionary who traveled from Nevada to California as 19 year-old intending to do the church’s work, with documentation in his hand and uncertainty in his heart. What he finds in the fields of California is a landscape of fertility and destruction: a lush world beset by natural disaster. Drawing on childhood thoughts and memories to craft this unique work of fiction, author Kathleen Wakefield allows her own experiences in Morro Bay and in a cabin by the Russian River to shape her novella. In poetic, compelling language, Wakefield shows readers what it is to look at the edge of the world and the longest and most beautiful place in the universe.
Reader Birute Putrius says, “In her book, In The Foam Of The Blue Waves, Kathleen Wakefield writes so beautifully about the watery world of the Russian River, a place that trembles in the light of sun glinting against water. Her characters search for the mystery of life, search for answers to the questions we’ve all asked ourselves during the long dark night of the soul. Wakefield’s writing is so wonderful, so lyrical, thoughtful and thought provoking. Just a beautiful book. Like an extended poem about all the BIG questions in life.”
From the Curator
Kathleen Wakefield’s novella haunts me. Months after reading the book, her desolate landscape and peripatetic characters are still wandering through my imagination. Her book is a beautiful elegy to a different world, a gorgeous fever dream.
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About the Author
Kathleen Wakefield is an American songwriter/author. She began her songwriter career co-writing “Feelin Kinda Sunday” for Frank and Nancy Sinatra. At Motown Records, her songs co-written with Leonard Caston include Nathan Jones, for The Supremes; I Can’t Quit Your Love, for The Jackson Five, and The Four Tops; Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need, for Eddie Kendricks. Other hit songs at Motown were recorded by Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Temptations, and Smokey Robinson.
Her hit song “Find One Hundred Ways,” co-written with Benjamin Wright and Tony Coleman, was recorded by James Ingram and Quincy Jones, and covered by many other artists; she and Jackie Jackson wrote the hit “Torture” for The Jacksons for their Victory Tour, and she co-wrote “Love Never Felt So Good” with Michael Jackson and Paul Anka, recorded both by Michael and by Johnny Mathis. She collaborated with Michel Colombier for his acclaimed concept CD, “Old Fool Back On Earth,” and has worked on songs for film and TV with many composers, including Oscar winning Gabriel Yared.
She has had published many short stories, and in 2010, her breakout novella Snaketown was published by The Cleveland State Poetry Center, and released with rave reviews.
