Siddons bounces back with release of novel

This one stands out.

There are any number of things that make Anne Rivers Siddons' 18th novel one of her most memorable. One, that she finally was able to realize a desire to inject a plot with elements of a ghost story. Two, that her new heroine is cut from different cloth than her predecessors. Three, that she is making her debut with Grand Central Publishing — she chose from several suitors — after 20 fruitful years with HarperCollins.

Four, and most significant, that she bounced back from open-heart surgery in April to finish the manuscript of "Off Season," which will be released (with appropriate fanfare) Wednesday.

"I had a valve replacement. But I remember none of it, and I healed very quickly," says Siddons, enjoying her customary break from Lowcountry heat in Maine. "I've got a lot more energy now. Recuperating from surgery put me way behind with the book, though."

No problem, as far as Grand Central was concerned. The company was eager to add such an established author to its lineup.

"My agent asked four publishing houses to come make a little presentation to us, and we chose Grand Central. I have a wonderful new editor now, who is also the publisher of the house. I'm very happy so far."

Siddons' recovery is progressing well ahead of schedule. Even in the early stages, she was chomping at the bit to get back to writing, and back to her protagonist, Lilly Constable McCall.

For years, McCall and her husband, Cam, were the embodiment of a happy marriage, joined in true partnership and blessed with a fine family. Loss came altogether too soon.

After Cam's death, McCall sets off alone on a road trip to the couple's favorite getaway on the coast of Maine. There, where they fell in love in the summer of 1962, and where their ghosts still linger, she recalls the progression of years and experience. Beginning in reflection, the journey veers into re-evaluation when an act of betrayal, long past, comes to light.

"I have usually, maybe even inadvertently, written about women confronted with a need to change their lives, often painfully," says Siddons. "But Lilly doesn't change her life; she is in reaction to it through the whole book. She manipulates her world, as a great many of us do, but it's more a case of things happening to her. I feel she is a very appealing character — a brave person — in a book unlike anything else I've written."

Upon completion of her 2005 novel, "Sweetwater Creek," Siddons confided that "The moment a book is born in my head is the first and only time I see it whole and plain and clear. I can never achieve that again, but it's something to work toward." "Off Season" threw her a curve.

"It took me by surprise a little bit. Generally, I know where I am going with a story from the start, and you do have a clearer picture (of the whole) in that first flash. But I didn't expect the ending of this new book to be as literal as it was. But it needed to be. Most books have a secret or two locked in them."

With decades of experience as a novelist, Siddons is well-acquainted with the writer's quiver of gambits and techniques, but producing a novel never gets any easier, even in perfect health.

"No, it certainly doesn't. It's shattering (the idea of starting a new one). But as soon as I start inventing a world and a story, I'm hooked. I can't stop telling myself stories. I'm aware of using craft, however you define it, but in every book there are three or four bright bursts of something that come through that have nothing to do with craft. You wait for those moments. If I could ever do an entire book in that state of mind, wouldn't that be something?"

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.