Pont Marie
A Novel
by
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The roar of water, the noise of stone and timber colliding, and the sound of my own body’s impact as it slams against something hard precede a sudden silence and the shock of immersion in black, icy cold water. I surface briefly. I’m gasping, hyperventilating, hallucinating. I see the image of a white cat and a bridge. I’m completely disoriented now. There’s a sudden blow to my head. My vision and my thoughts become as black as the water that flows over me. I wake up in my bed gasping for air, fighting the scrambled sheets and blankets that bind my legs and arms and defeat my efforts to pull away, to distance myself from another iteration of the nightmare I have been experiencing over and over for weeks. As frightening and disturbing as these dreams are, they have served to unlock less dramatic, but no less intense images, scenarios, scenes, people, events that fill my mind in waking and sleeping hours. They are all elements of a puzzle that is starting to piece itself together -- not as dreams or imaginings, but as memories. Dreams and memories are intensely personal and should not be taken lightly. I am reluctant to reveal mine, but I really have no choice.
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About the Book
“Metempsychosis” refers to the passing of the soul at death into another body, either human or animal. At its most basic, it refers to reincarnation, but the theory of past lives can have overwhelming consequences— especially when memories of these past lives seep into the life we currently live. Just ask a modern day, middle-aged New Mexico gentleman whose dreams threaten his reality.
According to his dreams, this unassuming man was once a printer in seventeenth century Paris and then a United States senator. Prior to both of these lives, he was an Anasazi sun priest in the eleventh century. At first, it was easy to ignore his dreams. However, thanks to their persistence, this man must come to terms with the ramifications of his past lives and how they may affect the life he currently struggles to lead.
Set above the backdrop of an ancient bridge in Paris, Pont Marie is the narrative of places, people, and things once forgotten but enlivened in one man’s mind. How can he thrive in his current life when the past permeates his present? How can he hold together relationships, when ancient relationships still haunt? Will his quest for closure leave him cleansed or perhaps insane?
About the Author
AL STOTTS has had a life-long interest in politics, history, and literature. With New Mexican roots, he also developed a passion for New York City and Paris. He currently lives in Albuquerque, where he is a runner and federal bureaucrat.