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Setting:
The story starts in New York City, most likely present day. Then as the story
goes on it moves to minnesota out to Erich's farm. It is winter in Minnesota
and very cold. Characters:
Jenny is the main character of the story. She is a divorced mother of two. She
is young and pretty. She works at an art museum in New York City to support
herself and her two little girls. She is kind and sweet and has a brilliant
sense of humor.
Erich is an artist. He's mysterious and curious. His actions speak louder then
most words because he tends to be quiet during the story. On the outside he
seems like the most perfect man. The type that every woman hopes of meeting
and falling in love with. But on the inside he holds dark secrets of his past
and a twisted, hateful mind.
Kevin is Jenny's ex-husband. He's a struggling actor with a great sense of
humor. He tends to be a little selfish, but always tries to put everything on
the good side of the hill. He cares about Jenny and his children even if it
seems like he doesn't.
Clyde is the old man who works on Erich's farm. He basically runs the place
and had been around ever since Erich was in diapers. He worked with Erich's
father to make his farm the most respected and well known in the county.
Rooney is Clyde's wife. She used to be great friends with Erich's mother. She
turns to Jen to give her a friend and some confidence. Everyone around the
farm thinks that Rooney is crazy and doesn't know what she is doing. She's
smart and a good cook, and loves to help.
Mark is Erich's best friend from childhood. He is a doctor and helps out Erich
whenver needed. When Erich starts to get weird, Jen turns to Mark for help and
friendship. Mark is a helpful man who cares deeply for others. In the story it
seems like he's falling for Jen.
Tina and Beth are Jen's little girls. They are both young and influential.
Summary:
She had been struggling ever since her and Kevin had broken up, Jen thought to
herself one night as she was rushing out of work to go pick up Tina and Beth.
Life had just gotten out of hand for her after the divorce. Money seemed like
it was everything. But she was still happy. She knew she'd pick up her
children go home and make them dinner and feel all cozy in their little
apartment. That was what she was really looking forward to for the night. Jen
knew that the next day would be very big and important. All her boss told her
was that a special unknown, yet very talented, artist would be coming to the
gallery and that she would be the one to introduce him and his work the the
art sellers and buyers. What Jen did not know, was that this man was named
Erich Kruegar, and was soon to be her future husband. Walking into work the
next morning was nerve wracking to her. Not only because she was meeting this
"infamous" artist, but also because she had to worry about the children's new
day care center. Worrying wasn't an abnormal thing in her schedule though, she
always had something on her mind other then herself.
She knew Kevin would be showing up that night because it was pay day. He
always showed up on pay day. He'd say to her something along the lines of,
"But Jen, I'm a struggling actor? You don't want me to starve do you? I
promise I'll pay you back Jen, I swear!" He'd never pay her back she thought
to herself as she walked into the gallery. Mr. Hartely, the owner of the
gallery, rushed Jen through the door and gave her some paperwork. Erich would
be there soon he had told her. He also made clear to her his plans with Erich
and where he would be and at what times. It was her job to arrange the artwork
to a precise order that was given to them by Erich. Jen stared in awe at
Erich's work. He's great she thought to herself as Mr. Hartely walked out the
door. Day dreaming about the man on the front of the pamphlet she found
herself thinking of what type of life this handsome man led, if he was
married. All of a sudden, she felt something behind her. She had bumped into
Erich Kruegar.
He must have let himself in without Jen hearing him. He was early she thought.
Staring caught herself staring at him, he is gorgeous she thought to herself
with a smile. Making polite conversation they hit it off. Erich was
considerate, intelligent, and clean cut. Erich had insisted on taking her out
for lunch. Knowing this will completely throw her bosses schedule haywire, she
hesitantly agreed. They immediately hit it off. She felt like he really cared
as he stared at her every movement. After lunch they bought coffee and walked
back to the gallery. Meeting her boss at the door she knew she was in for it.
Erich quickly introduced himself and took full credit for them being late. Mr.
Hartely nodded and opened the door to the gallery. The customers would be
there soon and then the gallery would be full, loud, and full of life. After
the showing of the artwork, Erich insisted on walking Jen to the day care to
pick up her children then to take them out for supper. Him being very
financially secure, took it upon himself to invite Jen everywhere. Jen felt
uncomfortable at first about all the money he had been spending on her. But
when he insisted that he didn't mind and that it was all his pleasure to do
so. She gave in.
After about a month Erich brought up and important issue, marriage. The
thought of such commitment scared Jen to death. Thinking about what had
happened to her last marriage she was very hesitant upon answering. But after
thinking it through she figured it would be the best thing to do. It would
take her children out of this environment and it would make her happy. Because
Erich made her happy. Kevin had shown up one night when Erich was over
visiting Jen and the kids. Erich stood amazed as Jen handed Kevin over some
money. While Kevin was there Jen had explained to him what was going on
between her and Erich. Kevin didn't think it was such a hot idea, but he took
it as a sign of her moving on and he knew there was nothing he could do about
it, so he left. Erich was enraged that Jen gave Kevin money for no reason,
even when Kevin didn't pay any type of child support or anything. But then he
thought, well soon we will be gone and I will take her away from all of this,
and that is what he did.
After the Wedding they moved on up to Minnesota. This is where all of the fun
began. They did not have a honeymoon because they didn't want to leave the
kids at such a young age with people they did not know. Erich had also told
the town that Jen was a widow and not a divorced woman. And the emptiness of
the farm also seemed just a little bit fishy to her. But she just figured it
was nothing and thought about all the good things. She noticed slight changes
in Erich's behavior. He was very obsessed over his deceased mother, and he had
ill memories of his father. He cried in his sleep and wandered secretly around
the house. Jen didn't know what to do, so she just tried to ignore it. But
when scary things started happening to her, she started to worry.
Erich would leave in the morning and go out to his little cabin in the woods.
No- one besides him was aloud there, and nobody but him and his mother had
ever been there. He told Jen it was his special place to be at peace and where
he felt he could work his best. Jen understood this, thinking nothing really
of it. Until, Erich started to leave for days at a time. This really worried
Jen, she also missed her husband. They had only been married such a short
while, she just could not understand why all of this stuff was happening. When
she went on a walk one day she stumbled upon something. It was a graveyard. It
was the Kruegar Family Graveyard. Opening the fence she entered the little
space and looked around. She scanned all the gravestones, but none shown up
with the name "Caroline Bonardi". Caroline was Erich's mothers name. Then deep
in the corner, under a big tree was a stone. Jen slowly walked across to look
at the stone as she peered down a hand on her shoulder startled her. She
turned around to find Erich standing behind her. His face looked stern and he
looked upset. She looked at him innocently and his face calmed he told her of
his mother, her accident, and why she was buried in the far corner. Jen
thought about everything he said, and asked herself, why doesn't this all work
out?
Weeks passed and she had become quite close Clydes wife. Clyde was the man who
ran the farm while Erich was away. Rooney was Clyde's wifes name. She was a
simple woman, who was made out to be crazy and looney. Which she was not. Jen
knew this right away, just after spending some time with her. Rooney told Jen
a lot of things Erich had left out. How when Erich was young, he was really
very attached to his mother. He never wanted Caroline out of his sight. Jen
never let on that she knew any of this stuff when Erich was around. But then
really strange things began to happen. One was when Kevin turned up dead. The
police had stopped by to talk to Jen about Kevin's death. He was found in a
nearby river his car had been run off the bank and into the rapid icy water.
In the car was Jen's jacket, so the police were led to believe that Jen had
something to do with the accident. But truth was, Jen didn't even know that
Kevin had been up and around Minnesota at the time. Jen was confused. Soon
enough everyone thought she was a crazy confused woman, they thought she was
dangerous because she lied.
Jen felt like there wasn't a care in the world, but then Mark showed up. Mark
believed that Jen was telling the truth. He was on her side. Together they
tried to figure everything out. Then one day. Jen came home to find that Erich
had taken Tina and Beth away. He called later that night saying he wouldn't be
back. He made her feel guilty by saying things such like telling her that she
promised that she'd never leave him, and that she said they'd be together
forever. Jen was stressed beyond belief, how in the world did he find out
about her trying to leave.
She then knew that the only thing she could do was find that cabin out in the
woods. She set out, day after day, not knowing where and when she would find
it, and then one day, she stumbled upon it. She broke into the cabin by
breaking a window and unlocking the door. Upon entering she felt this cold
chill go right through her. She looked around, amazed. Art work lined the
walls. But it wasn't Erich's artwork. It was not his scribbled signature. It
was one of a woman named Caroline Bonardi. Looking around Jen stood in a maze
of art supplies. She just couldn't understand. What did Erich do with all the
time he spend here, if all he did was copy over the signature of his mother.
So she looked around. She found a closet, or what appeared to be a closet. She
opened to the door and to her horror, on an easel, was a picture of her, her 2
children, dead. It was a brutal picture. She was scared, this was Erich's
work. Taking the painting under her arm, she ran.
As soon as she got back to the house, she called for Mark. Mark arrived at the
house no more then 10 minutes later. In horror she showed the picture to Mark.
All of a sudden there was a knocking at the door. Who could that be? They
quickly shoved the painting into the closet, and opened the door. There stood
the sheriff. He looked at Jen and said, "We need to speak with Erich, where is
he?" Jen told him that he had gone a little vacation with the children and
should be back soon. The sheriff nodded and then said to her, "Your husband is
a fraud, those were his mothers paintings, not his," and then he left. Jen
couldn't take it anymore she turned to Mark, and started to sob.
It was Erich's 35th birthday on that next day. It was nearly 20 years ago that
Caroline had died. Sad enough that she had died on his birthday. It tore him
up. Then it hit her, she realized what she had to do in order to get Erich to
come back. Ever since Erich was a little boy he had never left the farm on his
birthday. Jen had always resembled Caroline. That is why Erich had picked her.
It had taken her this long to realize this. She knew what she had to do. In
order to get her children back and to help Erich, she had to pretend to be
Caroline.
There was a picture of Caroline that Erich had treasured. Jen found some
clothes that were basically identical to those Caroline was wearing in the
picture, she put them on, and went outside to sit in Caroline's chair. Mark
was sitting inside waiting. Then all of a sudden came Erich running, he was
dressed just the same as Jen, just like Caroline was in the picture. He had a
gun. Mark had called the sheriff to come down. Mark ran outside in fear that
Erich would shoot at Jen. Jen was just as scared and then, "BOOM". Erich was
dead. Jen had began to cry. Mark had put his arms around Jen and hugged her.
Everyone had come running. The sheriff arrived. Erich's body was taken away.
But where were her children. Erich had whispered that he had been staying 6
hours north of there and that the children were alone. But now Erich was gone,
and they didn't even know where to start. Jen was going crazy. Her little
babies were alone, in the cold. They would freeze to death. Mark recalled a
house that Erich had owned, it was the first place they checked. He was right.
And then it seemed to come to an end. Jen couldn't go back to New York, she
had no life there, and yet, she had no life in Erich's house either. Mark had
told her that he had a little house on a lake that he rented out. Jen took it.
There she lived and raised her children. Traumatized for life she would stay,
but she at least knew that all her troubles were over, and she'd always have a
friend when she needed one, and that was Mark.
Conclusion:
This book was really good. A page turner at any rate. I loved it. It was full
of suspense and mystery. I kept asking myself, "What's going to happen next?"
I just could not put it down. The book told a good story though. It taught
about lies, deceit, cheating. That's life, right? It seemed like the story was
real. As much as we all know it was not. It could have been. And it could have
happened to anyone.
English Essays
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