In association with Trafford Publishing, Jim Meirose has released his new novel "Claire", about a dead body that refuses to rot.
(PRWEB) January 3, 2005 -- "Claire" is about a dead woman (Claire), whose casket falls out of an exploding airplane as she is being transported cross-country for burial.
The casket falls into a plowed field in an isolated rural area and is found by two brothers who live on a rundown farm nearby. They take the casket home to their barn, hoping for reward money, but after some days pass it becomes apparent that Claire's body is somehow, magically, not decomposing.
This leads them to sell this wonder to a carnival side show and the ensuing action is at the same time serious, comical, and bizarre. Claire is put on exhibition in the carnival and we witness the reactions of the various customers who come through to view her. In time, the dead woman becomes the salvation of a disintegrating family transplanted from back east, due to events set in motion by the husband's obsession with Claire from the first time he saw her. And, through a series of twists and turns in the plot, mainly caused by the greed of the brothers who found her, she becomes the the cause of their downfall and ultimately terrible fate. Claire herself ends up finally decomposing and is buried as planned, but not before significally affecting and altering many lives in both comical and moving ways. This story is by turns serious, humorous, tragic, and magical. It shows the various sides of human nature as the characters interact and we share their deepest thoughts. An important character also is the child, Annie, who registers interesting reactions to the activity around her and whose calico cat is an important character as well.
Claire is available at www.trafford.com/robots/04-1826.html
ISBN 1-4120-4019-1
Jim Meirose's work has appeared in many leading literary magazines, has been nominated for the pushcart prize, and one of his stories was honored in the 1997 O. Henry Awards anthology. He lives in Somerville, New Jersey with his wife Mary Beth and her dog and his cat.
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