From the deep, dark woods on a crisp October day appears a little girl who takes a small, Northwest town on a journey that changes their lives forever. Mute and wolf-like, this helpless child finds herself caught in a web of emotional turmoil as she struggles to stay alive. Ellie Barton, the police chief and former high school prom queen, must put her career on the line and find this little girl's true identity. With no experience in true crime work, she is forced to turn to the one person who could possibly solve this mysterious crime, her younger sister, Dr. Julia Cates.
Living in California without once regretting leaving her family behind, Julia, famous child psychiatrist, finds herself running from her own demons. When a patient under her care suddenly commits murder, all eyes are upon Julia as she must now justify her professional judgment and prove that she was not in error. With her reputation scarred, Julia realizes that there is more to life than a stellar career and an empty home.
When her sister calls and desperately pleads for her to come to her aid, Julia embarks on personal pilgrimage to rediscover her family as well as to fulfill her desire to help this innocent child. As she soon discovers, Ellie, Baby Alice and she are all lost souls searching for something for which they do not have the answers. All three must learn to love and forgive if they want to find solitude and peace.
MAGIC HOUR is an engrossing novel that strikes at the core of the reader's soul. With vivid and detailed descriptions of the northwest, Hannah leaves no doubt in the reader's mind as to the importance of the setting in relation to the plot. The novel is densely written with specific attention given to the development of the characters. The feeling of despair felt when a child suffers reaches deep in the psyche of any mother. The storyline is compelling, heart wrenching and utterly spellbinding. The depth of Hannah's characters and the tenacity in which they strive to overcome their obstacles leaves the reader wanting for more. MAGIC HOUR is heartwarming, bittersweet and at times intensely suspenseful. Hannah has surely set the bar.
Deep in the Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National
Forest - nearly one million acres of impenetrable darkness
and impossible beauty. Even in this modern age, much of it
remains undiscovered and uncharted. From the heart of this
old forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and
alone, she can give no clue as to her identity, no hint of
her past...
Until recently, Dr. Julia Cates was one of the preeminent
child psychiatrists in the country, but a scandal shattered
her confidence, ruined her career, and made her a media
target. When she gets a desperate call from her estranged
sister, Ellie, a police chief in their small western
Washington hometown, she jumps at the chance to escape.
In Rain Valley, nothing much ever happens-until a girl
emerges from the deep woods and walks into town. She is a
victim unlike any Julia has ever seen: a child locked in a
world of unimaginable fear and isolation.
When word spreads of the "wild child"Β and the infamous
doctor who is treating her, the media descend on Julia and
once again her competence is challenged. State and federal
authorities want to lock the girl away in an institution
until an identification can be made.
But to Julia, who has come to doubt her own ability, nothing
is more important than saving the girl she now calls Alice.
To heal this child, Julia will have to understand that she
cannot work alone and must look to others-the people in the
town she left long ago, the sister she barely knows, and Dr.
Max Cerrasin, a handsome, private man with secrets of his
own. Then a shocking revelation forces Julia to risk
everything
to discover the truth about Alice. The ordeal that follows
will test the limits of Julia's faith, forgiveness, and
love, as she struggles to ascertain where Alice ultimately
belongs.
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