a novel by Stephen Evans
Available Now Order the Book:
Bookshop.Org
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Or order through your favorite local bookstore
Nick is charismatic. Brilliant. Quixotic. And possibly Delusional. His passion for environmental and animal rights constantly gets him in trouble. And his ex-wife and former law partner, Lena inevitably comes to his rescue.
While Lena fights to save Nick from being committed or going to prison, she allows him to move back in with her. Quickly, her hopes for a normal life are left dangling. But maybe a normal life was not what she hoped for after all.
The Island of Always is a fast-paced, quirky romance about a partnership that endures beyond law, beyond marriage, and possibly beyond reality.
Content Warning: This book deals with issues of mental health and depression as well as the loss of a pet. Please keep this in mind before purchasing.
Publishers Note: This volume combines the first three parts of The Island of Always series:
The Marriage of True Minds
Let Me Count the Ways
My Winter World
What the Critics are Saying:
Reviews for the first three parts of The Island of Always:
“Stephen Evans’ first novel, The Marriage of True Minds, is a funny, poignant, oddly beautiful book about three divergent life forms-animals, people, and lawyers. You will love it if you read it with a true mind.”-Kinky Friedman
“Poignant and outrageous, moving and profound, Evans’ delectable debut novel thrums with zesty dialogue and a memorably zany cast of irresistible characters.” -Booklist
“Evans demonstrates his playwright’s mastery of dialogue and tension in his accomplished and whimsical first novel about love and the bizarre behavior it ignites.” –Publishers Weekly
“Evans writes throughout with a sense of refreshing humor, and the snappy repartee between the two leads is also very funny and fun.” -ForeWord Reviews
“Evans is a talented writer who crafts smart, funny scenes and characters engaging enough to make readers happily suspend disbelief. A charming literary screwball comedy.” –Kirkus Reviews
“A zany and unpredictable comedic literary novel.”–Foreword Reviews
“A truly amiable cast of characters, entwined with heartfelt emotions. Literary audiences will easily forego any disbelief and indulge their imaginations in this highly entertaining and worthwhile read.”-BlueInk Reviews
“A charming literary screwball comedy.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Creative and cleverly written” -Booklife
“You will NEVER FORGET IT…A total Must Read”-Book Review Crew
“This book illuminates the struggle of loving someone beyond comprehension and the strain that mental illness places on that relationship. Fans of A Man Called Ove will enjoy going on this journey“-NerdyBookNurse.com
“The perfect feel-good book“-CenteredonBooks.com
“The third installment of Stephen Evans’ bittersweet love story, The Island of Always, mixes whimsy, grief, courtroom drama, and charm.”–Blueink Review
Excerpt:
“Lena Grant stepped off the elevator on the skyway level of the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Minneapolis, slipped quietly down the deserted corridor until she reached the atrium, paused as she took two deep breaths leaning against the Italian marble wall near the museum with the working telegraph, slid into the historically accurate fully restored red and gold stage coach, hunched down low on the rear bench, and sang, very softly, the Wells Fargo Wagon song from The Music Man.
The lobby was deserted, except for the lone security guard at the front. Lena was sure he was aware of what she did. But he was discreet enough not to notice her singing and she was discreet enough not to mention how little affect his thermos of coffee was having.
Qui tacet consentire videtur was the common law maxim: silence gives consent, as Nick would surely have reminded her, after which he would have quoted the entire summation by Thomas More at his trial for treason in 1535, then perhaps a chapter or two of Utopia. Lena was a superb attorney, but she did not have her husband’s legendary legal memory.
De facto husband, not necessarily de jure, she reminded herself. Nick had signed the divorce decree. But was he competent to do so? Nick had suggested that he was not. But in making that argument, wasn’t he contradicting the argument? How can he argue that he wasn’t competent if he was competent enough to argue competency?
Lena sat upright, rocking the coach. Exactly, she thought. This was exactly what being married to Nick was like, even when you weren’t. Nothing was what it was, and everything was something else entirely that you had never imagined or anticipated.
She couldn’t live like this, she decided. And she was going to go home and tell Nick to his face. After no more than three more choruses.”
