Illusions of More: A Novel

ELL teacher, Sienna O'Mara, is the only person in Purewater with time allocated to give nine-year-old Pilar the basic language skills and the compassion an orphaned refugee needs. In Sienna's class, dubbed The Writers' Lair, Pilar struggles to make sense of disturbing memories. A mispronunciation sends Sienna to a local Saturday swap meet. Marigolds, the best mole sauce in the state, and a gift from an enigmatic art dealer induct her into a sacred mystery originating in Mexico. As Sienna researches the devastation of Pilar's home village, high-stakes testing, mandated text books, and shadowy objectives stalk Moore Elementary School. During an unwitting ritual on El Día de Los Muertos, Sienna's job is threatened and a haunting voice that no one ever expected to arise in the United States emerges to reveal what is being erased even before it has a chance to be written. In this shattering, heartwarming, and redemptive novel, readers are given the unique opportunity to look beyond the illusions of more to remember how much lives— and dies— in a story.