Where Are You?

A Sequel to Chapel on the Moor

By: D. F. Dempster

Narrated by: Steve Carlson

Where Are You? is a sequel to the novel Chapel on the Moor, and follows the lives of the two main protagonists a half century later in a quest to discover what, if anything, might remain of the Chapel. In the first novel, two young adults, Merritt Geary and Frank Dole, met by accident on the occasion of the renovation and dedication of a long-abandoned rural chapel built 100 years earlier by Merritt’s great grandfather. At the end of the story, the chapel suffered complete destruction in a colossal storm, and the two parted ways after a brief but intense summer romance.

Now, 50 years later, the sequel finds a happily married Frank and newly widowed Merritt in their 70s, thrown together once again by pure chance. They decide to explore their separate curiosities and motivations by revisiting the scene of the chapel and reliving the days of their youth. Although the chapel no longer exists, and nothing was found except the mysterious underpinnings of its creation, the complex relationships between and among Frank, Frank's wife, and Merritt undergo separate epiphanies and resolutions.

©2019 Duncan F. Dempster (P)2023 Duncan F. Dempster

Mystery, Supernatural, and Aging

Frank Dole receives correspondence from his one-time love, Merritt Geary. Although he has not forgotten he is and has been happily married for well over 45 years, Frank is interested in revisiting their past. Merritt and Frank go to the island where they lived and loved. Once there, they discover each is haunted by the past differently.

The author, D. F. Dempster masterfully crafts a storyline with complex relationships, the exploration of elderly emotions, feelings, memory, and desires tinged with the supernatural. Although the listener knew from the beginning Frank was in over his head, the author did not hesitate and handed the listener twist after twist. Almost poetic, the words and imagery used to describe the thoughts and feelings of Frank were clear and relatable. Detailed descriptions of the location, people, and memories were complete and highlighted one’s attempts to capture the past accurately. Toss in the mystery of a storm and a missing chapel, then one has more definitive evidence that time and relationships are unique and don’t matter if you are alive, a spirit, or a memory.

The narrator, Steve Carlson, does an excellent job of slipping into each character and projecting the intense emotions, mental explorations, and the doubt one faces as one is growing older. With each word, sigh, and pause he communicated all these thoughts and feelings clearly. By the end, I felt I knew each of the main characters intimately. He used different voices for each character and did so consistently and with ease.

Lost chances and the opportunity to feel young and alive as well as piecing together a supernatural-tinged mystery made the storyline interesting and captivating. Highly recommend!

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.