The Road to Stillwater
The reviews are in . . .
"The Road to Stillwater" is a masterfully crafted story that tugs at the heartstrings and leaves you pondering the complexities of family long after the final page. Mazza paints Stillwater, Vermont, with a vivid brush, making the town itself a character steeped in secrets and nostalgia. Ashley Keller’s journey is both heart-wrenching and hopeful, as she peels back the layers of her father's past and confronts her own unresolved emotions. This novel is a must-read for anyone who appreciates a deeply moving exploration of love, loss, and the enduring power of home. - Booksource
The quiet town of Stillwater, Vermont, holds a hidden legacy that will upend everything Ashley Keller thought she knew. Amidst the town's deep-seated secrets, she must confront love, loss, and the legacy of her father's choices.
For sixteen years, Ashley Keller maintained a life measured in Manhattan transit schedules, unyielding deadlines, and a carefully guarded distance from the small Vermont town she left behind at eighteen. But when her father, George, passes away, she is forced to return to Stillwater to settle an estate she never wanted to inherit.
Armed with a strict travel itinerary and a determination to liquidate Keller Antiques & Curiosities by Sunday night, Ashley expects a simple administrative chore. Instead, she steps back into a shadowy world of competing clocks, unanswered questions, and a lingering family silence. Her estranged younger brother, Owen, who stayed behind to care for their father, challenges her assumptions at every turn, while the discovery of a hidden mahogany box and a trove of unsent letters upends everything she thought she knew about her parents.
As Ashley delves into the buried history of her mother Veronica’s long-concealed illness and death, the absolute practical certainty she brought from the city begins to fracture. Working alongside Owen and navigating a complex reconciliation with the people she abandoned, Ashley must confront whether understanding the past can ever repair its damage—or if true change requires letting go of control entirely.
The Road to Stillwater is a deeply moving novel about sibling estrangement, the weight of inherited silence, and the quiet courage it takes to unlock the doors we spent a lifetime locking.
Will Ashley find the strength to embrace her father's memory and forge a new path forward?
ISBN: 979-8-9924526-1-7
