Hedges

Former Title: Blood Sisters

Synopsis

Post World War II bungalow homes shudder with returning vets, shaky marriages and PTSD. The overgrown hedge starts it all, the friendship, the Koffee Klatches, the white wine, and the sharing of secrets that lead to a friendship that carries the two women safely through the bad places in their lives: the damaged children, the damaged men who came back from two wars, the threat of a bad mistake made long before, and the deadly illness that appears unexpectedly over a cup of coffee. The women's friendship becomes as strong as those tough laurel hedge branches that had been part of their first project together.

Veterans bring their families to Holgate Farms in order to begin again, except that they aren't sure where to start: the nightmares? the alcoholism? the anger? the depression? In l970 they still call it battle fatigue. Their wives call it Hell.

Eleanor and Patsy persevere, connecting their homes and lives through a hole in the hedge.

This is a story of women's strength in adversity––not alone, but with a good friend who is going through a lot, too. Let's have a glass of white wine, they say, and let’s talk. Maybe together we can do something about it.

Wednesday Club

Synopsis

Five disturbing children and their disturbed counselor group up and heal each other.

Hat Trick

Synopsis

A depressed ex-hockey player, his sister whose marriage crumbling, read their dead mother’s Mac files and, as always, Mom has advice for them and a secret to reveal.

Long Road Through the Forest

Synopsis

A widow opens her front door and her life to a dirty homeless teenager.

Edith

Former Title: Never Too Late

Synopsis

Edith Finlay has lived the unfinished life of any number of women in their sixties. The question she and they ask isn’t, “Is this all there is?” It’s more like, “When did I drop the reins?” In fact, when Edith wakes to find her husband of forty-seven years lying dead next to her, her first concern is the Christmas strata she’s to bake in an hour or so.

Art’s death offers Edith one last chance at taking control of her life. Scraps in Art’s pockets send her on a search for answers to his secrets. She discovers a lover, maybe, a prostitute, sometimes, and her son, a man of secrets also. She also finds herself, the real Edith.

Reviews

• “Edith awakens on Christmas day to find that her husband of more than forty years, has passed away in the night. One would think this would devastate her, but it doesn’t ... Once again, Ms. Barney weaves a tale that I found very difficult to put down and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.” – Margaret Millmore, Goodreads Review
• “... a woman entangled in a web of real and imagined betrayals she must unravel ... I hate to part with her.” – Nancy, Amazon Review
• “All I can say is wow! This was an emotional roller-coaster ride. For me it was a story of guilt, giving up, disillusionment, unhappiness, and settling for second best or maybe even fifth or sixth best. But the real story beneath all the emotion, is it is never too late to begin again.” – Vera Mallard, Goodreads Review
• “... how nice it is to read a book with the main character in (her) 60s facing real problems of this age group, someone who learns, at an advanced age, to live (her) life to the fullest.” – Sue, Goodreads Review
• “... great family saga that you can’t put down wanting to know the outcome and Edith proves that it is never too late to take control of your life.” – Sally Colels, Goodreads Review
• “... it gives some real insight into a character we don't see enough of as a main character of the story – that of a woman in her 60's. The ways in which she finds her strengths will surprise the reader.” – Susan R., Amazon Review
• “This book had such a powerful beginning that it proves extremely difficult not to be immediately drawn in, and the continued intelligent writing makes sure you are kept guessing and almost living Edith’s life until all the secrets are revealed by the end.” – Karen Mace, Goodreads Review
• “… a solid fiction story revolving around family drama ... the secrets that are kept in order to keep the family unit together, but eventually cause life to crumble and rear its ugly head. It's up to the characters to decide if these secrets will make or break them.” – Sage Adderly, Goodreads Review
• “I loved the way the author handles race in this novel. Edith’s (who is white) sleuthing takes her to a predominately black establishment and her dialog (both internal and external) is so honest. She doesn’t try to be politically correct; that was refreshing.” – Kelly Cain, Goodreads Review

The Solarium

Former Titles: Her Last Words, Uprush

Synopsis

Four women, old college friends, meet at Madge's beach house, as they have done before, for a weekend retreat. This time, along with good food, glasses of wine, a little gossip, they discover that Madge, a successful novelist, has included them in her next book containing the stories of their lives following their days and nights in the sorority solarium smoking Pall Malls and talking as sexy as one could in the late 50's.

"Your stories aren't finished," Madge tells them, "just as your lives aren't. And l need your help with my own story." But what Madge is asking of them may be more than they are willing to do.

Jackie, Lou, and Joan spend four days walking the beach, worrying in front of the fire, inventing stories for the sheriff, dealing with a man in a pony tail, hiding a guilty car in a debris-filled garage, and despite a few hissy fits, revisiting the intimacy they once knew in the smoky late hours in the Gamma Psi house. They breathe deeply and accept the awesome responsibility their friendship brings.

This story is about women who have faced challenging changes in their lives, have kept friendships despite these changes, and who understand that they do have choices about which path to take next. Even at sixty.

Reviews

• “Old college friends ... come together every few years and pick up where they left off. Events in their young lives (have) bonded them forever. Jo succeeds in creating four distinct relatable women characters. When one asks the other three to help her complete an illicit plan, they react with varying degrees of willingness; well-written.” – Eye Doc, Amazon Review
• “When I first started (The Solarium) I had the eerie feeling I was a voyeur looking at these women from another dimension and eavesdropping on their private lives. I was so intrigued I could not put the book down.” – cozyreader, Amazon Review
• “Many times since I read the book, I have found myself pondering over her decision and wondering how I would have handled the situation.” – J. Young, Amazon Review
• “We feel their emotions, we get to see inside, not only they're lives but their soul.” – Read-along-with-Sue, Amazon Review
• “She ... writes in a down to earth kind of way that the reader gets involved with without you even realizing it, and the time just flies by reading.” – Sue 1958, Goodreads Review
• “Jo has written a book (that) draws you into the story and makes it so you just can’t put it down.” – Pam, Goodreads Review
• “... a uniquely beautiful and emotional read. I loved each lady in their own way; they were so flawed and endearing.” – Serenity, Goodreads Review
• “A book about relationships, about struggles, making decisions that took (the four characters) on different paths, each battling her own why's and how's and at the end settling with who they have become, still remaining friends.” – Lynelle Clark, Goodreads Review
• “A thoughtful evocation of circumstances that I could easily feel myself living through.” – Anne’s Reviews, Goodreads Review
• “The ending had me in tears. 4 women, a friendship that spans over 40 years and a bond that can't be broken.” – Sam, Goodreads Review

Graffiti Grandma

Former Title: The Runaway

Synopsis

When Ellie, a disgruntled old woman whose hobby is removing graffiti from the neighborhood's mailboxes meets Sarah, a smiling Goth girl in black who looks as if she might done some of the tagging Ellie is wiping off, neither of them suspects that in a few days they both will be running from a serial killer preying on transients who wander through the nearby county park. So different in all ways, neither can imagine that she will become dependent on the other for safety. And neither will admit that she knows who the killer is. One of them finds out she is wrong, the other that she was right all along. But not before both end up facing the killer's sacrificial knife in front of a blazing bonfire in a forest high above the city.

Graffiti Grandma examines the life-contorting consequences of losing one’s family, the difficulties of finding another. And healing that comes, despite the scars, when that happens.

Reviews

• “(A) multifaceted narrative with quick shifts in time and focus to show how flawed individuals overcome, or are destroyed by, failed relationships.”
  Publishers Weekly – starred review, October 2013
• “Ostensibly about a serial killer, Barney’s novel is about much more than that. It’s also the story of people who are down but not out and a rumination on family, courage and responsibility – a book that reverberates long after the last page. A gripping book with compelling characters who don’t want your pity.”
  Kirkus Reviews – starred review, Best Books of 2013
• “Family, in all its weird and wonderful forms, is the surprising theme of Graffiti Grandma, a tension-filled look into the life of a lonely elder and the violent world of homeless kids.” – Peggy Bird, Amazon Review, author of Running Scores
• “An unvarnished look at the life of homeless youth. At times violent, their stories present some of the reasons these kids leave home ... all of whom are looking for some sort of family.” – Linda E., Amazon Review
• “You know a book has made an impact when ... you walk outside and look differently at the homeless young people around you ... a most unusual novel, but one which had a real ring of authenticity.” – J. Young, Amazon Review
• “A quick read that draws you into the lives of homeless children, their experiences on the streets and the search for family ... I am a sucker for happy endings and this book's ending was the best conclusion for this book.” – Lynelle Clark, Goodreads Review
• “How are a tough old woman, a runaway, a cop, and an abusive, controlling homeless man connected. ... a hard read at times, but will also make you shed a few tears.” – Brandi Nyborg, Goodreads Review
• “Barney delves into the lives of street kids. (She) writes from a basis of knowledge and research that should be taken seriously by innocent bystanders as well as City leaders.” – Carol, Goodreads Review