MERRIMACK – Local Author Jean MacDougall-Tattan’s second novel, Because of Biz, is now available at Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Amazon.com, and other online booksellers. The novel is the sequel to her debut novel, Biz’s Journey Home, which was released in September of last year.
Both novels, which take place in rural northeastern Massachusetts, are about love, loss, grief, spirituality, resiliency, and how the strong bond between humans and horses can heal. “It takes love, kindness, the building blocks of trust, to foster the partnership that leads to the true magic of horse ownership,” said MacDougall-Tattan, an Andover native now living in Merrimac. “I use the term ‘horse ownership’ loosely because I don’t believe we ever really own another living thing – but they are in our care and how we care for them is what makes all the difference.”
The books, traditionally published by All Things That Matter Press, are written for the young adult and women’s fiction markets. They bring readers deep into the lives of Carol and Jill Ainsley, who lost their husband and father, Logan, years before, after he’d built a barn so young Jill could get a horse and keep it at home. Following his death, Biz, the image of the horse Logan envisioned, waiting in the paddock for Jill to come home from school, enters their lives desperately in need of someone to love him. Is it a coincidence or a gift?
When Carol and Jill bring Biz into their hearts, they have no idea how much he will rescue them from their grief and help rebuild their lives. The first book begins when Jill is twelve years old and ends at the beginning of her senior year in high school. The sequel takes readers through her senior year — a time of great transformation and new beginnings.
MacDougall-Tattan, former editor of The Haverhill Gazette, will celebrate the release of her second novel at The Purple Couch Bookshop in North Andover on Saturday, September 21, 2024, at 1 pm. For more information or to register, please call the bookshop at 978-557-2187.
