Coggerton - Paperback

by Jane Wingate (Author)

Tired of life in suburbia, Cassie Atwood yearns to move her young family to rural New Hampshire. She finds an old house on sixty acres in the outskirts of Coggerton. As her husband Michael settles into his new job in Bourne, Cassie, eager to immerse herself in small-town life, gets acquainted with her neighbors, attends her first town meeting, works to restore the old house, plants a garden, and revels in the beauty of their land, happy that her son, Andy, is reaping the benefits of clean air, proximity to nature, and simple country values. But as the months go by, Cassie becomes disenchanted. Her dreams unravel and her marriage to an unsympathetic Michael frays, as she gradually learns what the state's motto, "Live Free or Die," means to the residents of Coggerton: if you don't like the way we live, go back where you came from. And the worst is yet to come.

Author Biography

Writer-photographer Jane Wingate's essays, photo essays, book reviews, and photos have appeared in Rangefinder magazine, New Hampshire Magazine, Outdoor Photographer, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Newsday, The Houston Chronicle, Ararat Magazine, The Manchester Union Leader, the Patuxent papers of Maryland, and in other publications. Her photos are in private collections, and in several corporate collections, including the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company and CSX Freight Company, both in Baltimore. Her images have been selected by Inner Reflections calendar, Red Oak greeting cards, and for various group shows in Maryland and New Hampshire. In 2007, Sampson's Ridge Press published a paperback version of The Toilet Papers, Pieces Just the Right Length, a collection of sixty-seven essays, half of which had been previously published. The Toilet Papers will soon be published as an e-book. Coggerton is Wingate's first published novel.