Today I welcome Janyre Tromp as she tours the internet with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in support of her book, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye.
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About Shadows in the Minds Eye:
Publication Date: April 19, 2022
Kregel Publications
Genre: Historical Fiction/Christian
Charlotte Anne Mattas longs to turn back the clock. Before her husband, Sam, went to serve his country in the war, he was the man everyone could rely on–responsible, intelligent, and loving. But the person who’s come back to their family farm is very different from the protector Annie remembers. Sam’s experience in the Pacific theater has left him broken in ways no one can understand–but that everyone is learning to fear.
Tongues start wagging after Sam nearly kills his own brother. Now when he claims to have seen men on the mountain when no one else has seen them, Annie isn’t the only one questioning his sanity and her safety. If there were criminals haunting the hills, there should be evidence beyond his claims. Is he really seeing what he says, or is his war-tortured mind conjuring ghosts?
Annie desperately wants to believe her husband. But between his irrational choices and his nightmares leaking into the daytime, she’s terrified he’s going mad. Can she trust God to heal Sam’s mental wounds–or will sticking by him mean keeping her marriage at the cost of her own life?
Debut novelist Janyre Tromp delivers a deliciously eerie, Hitchcockian story filled with love and suspense. Readers of psychological thrillers and historical fiction by Jaime Jo Wright and Sarah Sundin will add Tromp to their favorite authors list.
About the Author:
In case we get to meet in person some day, you pronounce that first name Jan-air. Kind of like the stove. I’m a developmental book editor by day and a writer at night.
And that all happens from my kitchen table when I’m not hanging out with my husband, two kids, and slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog. Unfortunately, I spilled coffee on my super cape and then the dryer ate it. So you’ll just have to imagine I can do it all!
I have four traditionally published books—a WWII era novel, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye; a juvenile fiction, That Sinking Feeling; and two board books in the All About God’s Animals series—and 2 indie books—Wide Open, a historical novella and It’s a Wonderful Christmas, a Christmas novella collection (coming October 2021).
But my passion is writing about the beauty of the world—past and present—even when it isn’t pretty.
After all, isn’t it the beauty in the world that gets us through the day?
Hopefully after you hang out with me for a bit, we’ll be able to see things a little more clearly, find a little bit of meaning, and make a bigger impact.
With me what you see is what you get…all the Beautiful, all the Ugly, all the Me.
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“Readers will enjoy this emotional exploration of a soldier’s journey as he returns home to his family’s farm after fighting a war in the Pacific. This story examines not only the traumatic impact on his own psyche but on the lives of all who love him most.
With alternating points of view, Tromp weaves a complex historical tale incorporating love, suspense, hurt, and healing―all the elements that keep the pages turning.” — Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of Perennials
“Oh my! What a story! Shadows in the Mind’s Eye is a stunner of a debut novel. Sam and Annie’s love is beautifully rendered, Sam’s combat fatigue (what we now call PTSD) is compassionately portrayed, and Janyre Tromp’s writing effortlessly captures the Southern voice. And the last half of the book is one dangerous, breathtaking twist after another, as Sam’s worst nightmares come to pass.
A compelling look at a town struggling to find its soul and a wounded couple struggling to reclaim their love. Not to be missed.” — Sarah Sundin, ECPA best-selling and award-winning author of Until Leaves Fall in Paris
“An achingly poignant tale of rediscovering love and trust between wounded hearts. Love, forgiveness, and danger weave together in Tromp’s emotional tale where the greatest of battles are fought in the mind. Beautiful in description with complex characters, readers will not forget this emotional journey.” — J’nell Ciesielski, best-selling author of The Socialite
“Stunning and compelling, Janyre Tromp’s Shadows in the Mind’s Eye kept me turning pages. With a cast of true-to-life characters, pitch-perfect narrative, and a plot that will keep the reader wondering what is true (and what is imagined), this novel is not to be missed. Intense and full of heart, Tromp delivers a fresh voice in the world of fiction.” — Susie Finkbeiner, author of The Nature of Small Birds and the Pearl Spence Series
“With twists and turns as unexpected as an Arkansas thunderstorm, Tromp brilliantly explores the things war can change and the important things it can’t.” — Lynne Gentry, USA Today best-selling author of Lethal Outbreak
“A hair-raising, mind-bending psychological thriller, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp deftly explores a marriage torn asunder by war. Is a marriage worth fighting for when you cannot see the people your husband is fighting, or when you even become the one he is fighting?
“Shadows in the Mind’s Eye is an intense, beautifully written novel about secrets and sacrifice. A story about poignant trauma and truth potent enough to heal a broken family. A fabulous debut!” — Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of The Winter Rose and Catching the Wind
“With pitch-perfect dialect, lyrical prose, and homespun wisdom, Tromp delivers a slow boiling mystery that dares to ask the deepest questions about faith, love, suffering, evil, and hope.” — Elizabeth Musser, award-winning author of The Promised Land
“Tromp’s debut novel is the perfect blend of historical fiction and psychological thriller. Shadows in the Mind’s Eye hooked me early on and kept me enthralled until the very end. A story of war, of heartache, of love and healing, this novel will appeal to a broad swath of readers. Tromp is a new author to watch!” — Kelli Stuart, award-winning author of The Fabulous Freaks of Monsieur Beaumont
The Excerpt:
I nestled little Rosie into her bed, then lay next to her while Annie stood leaning against the
doorframe. I’d give near anything to have her nestle on the other side of our girl, but I knew too
well why she didn’t. I’d let my nightmares devour my good sense, and now I needed to prove I
hadn’t turned into my wife’s nightmarish daddy.
My arm draped across Rosie, and she nuzzled her nose to mine.
“Story,” she demanded when she was sure she had my attention. The good Lord knows she
could melt the iciest of hearts.
“Which do you want?”
Rosie rolled over, then snatched a book from the shelf above her bed and thrust it at me. It
was a fairy tale about a selfish prince who’d been turned into a horrible beast and was stuck in
his beautiful castle all alone.
I growled the man’s frustration at having no one to love or to love him back. And I near cried
as I told the story of the beautiful girl who rescued her father from the monster by trading her
freedom for her daddy’s. I ran my fingers through my hair so much like the beast’s shaggy mane,
my last military cut long gone.
“Mary should’ve never told you that story.” All the way up ’til she married and moved away,
my sister was forever tattling on me and never missed an opportunity to embarrass me in front of her best friend.
Annie made amends by settling the lantern on the table, snatching the book, then lying next
to us, reading about the ugly beast saving the girl and somehow, someway, them saving each
other. The words and they lived happily ever after unrolled across the last page, my girls saying
the words in unison. If only it were as easy as that.
“We’ll get there,” Annie whispered. It was part question, but her smile said she wasn’t going
nowhere while we figured it out. How had I ever got so lucky?
Be sure to follow the tour for more excerpts and reviews!
