Splenditude

Finding Peace and a Place to Belong
Write what you know. Dig deeper. Cut the excess adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. But what if you’re writing your truth as you see it, and the story hasn’t ended because you’re still living it? What if your fears crowd your thoughts and dreams until you lose confidence in your writing? What if no one believes your truth? What would you do to get ahead and share your story with the world? These are some of the issues that Eileen T. Lynch struggles with in her debut novel, Splenditude.

Deidre Collins is a writer who wants the world to read her words. Unable to publish her first novel, she becomes too depressed to cope with life. She’s put on suicide watch in an Albuquerque behavioral hospital where she’s isolated with Max, who is battling demons of his own. What they have in common is ambition, but their methods for achieving it are like night and day.

She spends time writing in Albuquerque, while her mother insists she return home; and later, when her Aunt Katherine leaves her an isolated cottage, she does so. After reporting a student with a gun on her property, the school district offers her a job coaching special ed students, and that opens and reframes her view of life as well as giving her more to write about. Working with her students she meets a parent who’s also a renowned author with a personality befitting a princess.

Toward the end of the book we learn that splenditude is “what you get when you mix solitude, attitude, aptitude, splendor, and candor.” That’s wisdom from a neurodivergent teen with a unique take on life. Speaking of unique takes on life when Max calls Deirdre after many years, her peaceful existence is severely disrupted, and she discovers new facets of herself as she fights to retain the rights to her literary property.

Collins has written a remarkably sensitive story about needs, wants, passions, promises, and the journeys we find ourselves on as we seek our purposes in life. Her use of descriptive language is outstanding, and she draws readers into the complex plights of people who know the world is filled with gray areas, disappointments, and quests. This book will be of special interest to anyone who’s dealt with depression or has a passion for finding their place and contributing to the world.