Goody Celeste gets magical reviews…
"Those we love define who we are. They teach us to accept that we’re neither terrible gods nor nameless grains of ocean sand, but rather something in between, unique and irreplaceable. The slipstream of our years brings souls alongside us for a time. We cannot keep them; that’s not what souls are for. If we’re wise, we let the ones we love change us. We remember them, and we hope, as deeply as hope flows, that they remember us."
Goody Celeste combines a sense of magical realism with a feminist bent in a novel that pairs the coming-of-age experiences of three teens with the oversight of young witch Cece who, in 1969, helps these young people even while struggling with her own challenges with an absent husband missing in Vietnam.
As these characters find their lives entwined, so they acknowledge that "the summer of my witch" changes them, drawing connections between Cece and her boys that lead them all into unexpected arenas of growth and new realizations.
The magic in this story lies not in a typical growth pattern, but in a process of revelations and counterpoints that bring together and contrast disparate individuals whose wild rides through 1960s culture and attractions are tempered by their relationships.
Chris Riker's lyrical prose also produces exceptional results that defy any definition of a staid coming-of-age progression to inject poetic and magical elements into even seemingly mundane shared experiences, such as a day at the seaside:
"Determined not to be bested in the ocean, not even by a goddess, I made my way out to the sandbar and waited. Waves do funny things. Physics suggests they amplify each other when they join up. That’s all well and good, but it’s not something you comprehend when your eyes are inches above the surface and the first swell blocks your view."
Goody Celeste also embraces the atmosphere of the times so seamlessly that the contrasts of these disparate forces is compellingly attractive, as in descriptions that offer unexpected contrasts between atmospheres from Carl Orff’s 1936 masterpiece from Carmina Burana (the O Fortuna movement) with the contemporary pop group The Cowsills.
These references keep the story pulsing with possibility, perception, and the flavor of an era in which opportunities for cultural and social enlightenment came from a wide range of forces that intersected lives in a manner unique to the 1960s.
Thus, the series of events and connections that drive these three young people and the witch who oversees them makes Goody Celeste a highly recommended marvel of contrasts and unprecedented opportunities.
Readers who enjoy novels of magical realism, growth, and a unique sense of place and time will find Goody Celeste defies pat categorization. It rewards those who imbibe with a rich, lyrical "you are here" journey that will attract libraries, book clubs, and discussion groups alike with remarkable, notable celebrations of life:
"We grasped little and were infinitely better off for our ignorance. Youth was the best holiday of all, unrecognized and uncelebrated, tenuous yet remembered forever. This time neither knows nor needs purpose. It is. It is. Life may be on a joyless march to steal innocence. It did not matter. Not here, not yet. Under the sun, three stupid, carefree boys rode bikes to the beach."
--Midwest Book Review & Donovan's Literary Services
Check out Goody Celeste for yourself... https://www.amazon.com/Goody-Celeste-Chris-Riker-ebook/dp/B0CJ3GVWTY/