Terror at the Sound of a Whistle - by Caroline Shannon Davenport (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Here, Caroline Davenport shares the intimacies of her childhood in post-war Ohio. She portrays a purely distinct household, several notches away from normal, strange yet familiar, and just beyond her storytelling, beyond the innocent horizon, we can infer all kinds of hardship and villainy.

Meanwhile, Caroline and her closest friend thrive in the luxurious imagination of pre-adolescence. As they attend school and learn how to dodge its worst lessons, they also acquire forbidden knowledge that weighs on and transforms their dreams. More than anything, this well-conceived memoir shows what children despise, what they hope for, what they do and say when adults aren't looking.

"From heartbreak to hope, Edenic bliss to terrible grief, Davenport shows how children struggle to make sense of senselessness and find a way to live even when the world presses against them." - John Mauk, author of Field Notes for the Earthbound

Review Quotes

"Despite the sorrow woven into its pages, the memoir offers insights into life lessons hidden beneath tragedy's weight. Emotionally gripping and beautifully written, Terror at the Sound of a Whistle is a must-read for those drawn to tragic love stories and unconventional coming-of-age narratives." --Thomas Anderson, Literary Titan

"From heartbreak to hope, Edenic bliss to terrible grief, Davenport shows how children struggle to make sense of senselessness, how they find a way to live even when the world presses against them." --John Mauk, author of Field Notes for the Earthbound

"Caroline has worked for many years on "Terror at the Sound of a Whistle," painstakingly peeling back multifaceted layers of a long-buried childhood trauma. As she allows her inner child to reintroduce her to the depth of the pain she tucked away, to move on as she thought one should, she finds that young Caroline along with the sound of a whistle have other plans, casting doubt on choices made, roads not taken...and a road that suddenly closed. " --Walter Rabchuk, M.A. Ed, Education Consultant

"Caroline Shannon Davenport creates a world where little things matter, where a kind word can change lives. Her characters' strong moral compasses point true north and guide them to establish priorities that help them navigate an ever changing world. I only wish that Davenport had been around when I worked at Curtis Brown Literary Agency." --Wendy French, author of sMothering, Going Coastal, and After the Rice

"Caroline's novel, is a finely-crafted remembrance of first love that takes us back on a journey to a time and place long gone and forever changed, but not forgotten. She teases out memories almost faded like a morning dream and brings them to life for us. Did such people exist, really? Was there ever such a time? Indeed there was."
--David Parmer, Portrait Photographer in Tokyo, Japan

"A coming-of-age story in a now almost bygone time, the 1950s through the early 60s. The author calls this a "novelistic memoir," but her true story is powerful and captivating enough to have been a towering fiction, or maybe that's the way real life really is when told by a pro. Chocked full of memorable detail, delivered with wit and charm, and an ending that will stay in your mind for a long, long time." --Paul Levinson, Ph.D., author of The Silk Code, The Plot to Save Socrates, and It's Real Life

About the Author

After the death of her mentor, legendary agent, Clyde Taylor, and a long forced hiatus due to illness, now cured, Caroline Shannon Davenport is back! Besides the memoir and short stories by Running Wild Press, there are novels, short stories, and essays to come. Even a cookbook of recipes and reminiscences from Martha's Vineyard. Caroline Shannon Davenport lives on Cape Cod with her husband, Skip Bell, where she writes full time.