The Garden of Dead Dreams (31 page)

Etta is sure for a moment that her old roommate is looking at her. Etta brings her hand up to wave. But then Olivia pivots toward a short woman, who’s stepping up beside her. People clap. Cameras flash. Olivia smiles and steps from behind the podium.

Etta moves forward, but she is blocked by the circle of bodies tightening around Olivia. A line forms, meandering around tables and shelves, snaking to the stairwell. Etta overhears someone say Vincent Buchanan’s name, but she can’t focus on the words. All she can think about is how close Olivia is. She half expects to smell the familiar aroma of Olivia’s lavender oil.

Olivia doesn’t know that it was Etta who pulled off the highway near Jackson and called the police on that rainy October morning ten months ago, the day Director Hardin confessed, divulging the spot where the librarian buried Matthew Lowther, just a few feet away from a crumbling sculpture of an angel. Olivia doesn’t know that Etta drove to Portland to visit Joseph Thompson, just as Matthew Lowther had done a week before he died. Olivia doesn’t know that it was Etta who sent Matthew Lowther’s manuscript to her aunt in an anonymous package with no return address.

The crowd pulsates around Etta. She glances at the book in her hands:
A Traitor in the Trees.
“Foreword by Olivia Saxon,” it says in small print under Matthew Lowther’s name.

Etta lifts her gaze to the oak bookshelves that soar up on every side of the crowd like the cedars and Douglas firs flanking Roosevelt Lodge, and then she swivels and pushes her way toward the stairs. She emerges onto Broadway and waves for a cab. It’s early still, and she has a novel to finish.

Thank you for reading
The Garden of Dead Dreams
. Please visit
abbyquillen.com/explore
to find a book group discussion guide and peek behind the scenes at the making of the book. There you can learn about Portland’s Japantown and the inspiration for Vincent Buchanan and Roosevelt Lodge. You can also sign up for 
Abby’s newsletter
 to get the latest updates about her new mystery series.

If you enjoyed this book, please tell a friend and consider writing a short review on the site where you bought it, or on your favorite social network. Reviews make a huge difference in helping other readers discover debut authors and new titles.

Abby Quillen is the author of the novel
The Garden of Dead Dreams
and the editor of two anthologies. Her articles and essays have appeared in
YES! Magazine
and
The Christian Science Monitor
and on
Common Dreams
,
Nation of Change
,
Reader Supported News
,
The Daily Good
,
Truthout
, and
Shareable.net
. She lives with her family in Eugene, Oregon and is writing a new mystery series. She loves connecting with readers at her website: 
abbyquillen.com
.

I am forever grateful to my parents Ed and Martha Quillen, who raised me in a house full of books and shared with me their love of words, history, and literature.

My husband Aaron Thomas has been my most dedicated fan and cheerleader since I first typed “Chapter One” many years ago. His support made this book possible in a dozen different ways.

I’m also thankful to Ezra and Ira, my two sons, who continually remind me of the importance of imagination and storytelling. They will drop nearly anything to hear a good story.

I appreciate everyone who has read parts of this book over the years, including Columbine Quillen and many members of Willamette Writers, including Zahie El Kouri, Shirley West, Jodi Henry, Tamsin Morgan, Deb Mohr, and Linda Clare. Their encouragement was invaluable. And lastly, thank you to Kelly Schaub, Martha Quillen, and Honore Pazdral for their excellent editorial skills.