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101 Borden Street
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A Great Read

Andrea
MN, USA (8/9/2005)

Ariel was left alone at age four with nothing but a necklace and the knowledge of her first name. She was able to keep her name but the necklace was taken from her. Now, fourteen years later Ariel's necklace and the small box it rested in for all those years is returned to her just before she is released from the social welfare system. In the box she finds an old yellowed photo with the words "Borden Street, Goldsboro" written on the back. Now that Ariel's an adult she's determined to discover her past. She knows that the photograph can provide her with needed answers. Ariel will travel to Goldsboro, shedding her abusive boyfriend John and the years of foster homes. Ariel locates the house in the photograph, is hired as the housekeeper and learns 101 Borden Street is haunted—trapped in time waiting to be released from the violence that occurred there over a hundred and sixty years earlier. Only Ariel can free the house from the past and release the star-crossed lovers from their prison. But in helping others, she may lose her own life without learning about her own family history. Susan Eileen Walker writes a fascinating suspense story that will keep you turning the pages. The plot is exciting and she is able to deftly weave the present into the past. I enjoyed it! That said I have one criticism. The story ends so abruptly I thought I'd received a book that didn't have all the pages. I kept thinking that there had to be more and then learned that that was indeed how the author chose to end the book. For me it felt unfinished, though you could also argue for the opposite. Armchair Interviews says: It's a great read if you love good story telling.

101 Borden Street

Jeff
Asheville, NC (5/23/2004)

Hated to put this one down and to finish it. Will read again soon and recommend to any and everybody.

Spellbound

Anne
North Carolina (8/18/2003)

"101 Borden Street" was one of the best books I have ever read! I was spellbound and found it hard to put the book down. I read it in 2 sittings - and was really sorry to finish it! How refreshing to read a novel with no unnecessary vulgarity and steamy sex scenes. You are to be commended for this wonderful addition to the literary world.

Unusual yet Interesting

Ken Gruebel, New Bern Sun Journal Book Reviewer
North Carolina (7/14/2003)

This is a rather unusual and yet interesting novella by a New Bernian writer. Although the writers lives here, the plot is centered up the road in Goldsboro. While the opening of the book is normal narrative concerning a 4-year-old girl abandoned by her mother in an Asheville park, the remaining chapters disclose a story that is anything but routine. The story actually begins 14 years later when Ariel, the girl abandoned, reaches her 18th birthday and is having her exit interview by a social worker. Life has not been smooth or easy for Ariel and the rebelliousness she harbored has been expressed in several anti-social acts that have landed her in a training school that was little more than a juvenile detention center. Now she is her own woman, ready to start life. The social worker gives Ariel a box containing a locket and chain and a small photograph of a woman. There is an address, Borden Street, Goldsboro. That is all the past that this young woman knows about herself. Once free of the training school she heads to Goldsboro to try and track down any remnants of family she may have had. Locating Borden Street does not seem to be difficult, but finding that particular house is not easy. Without a house number, she spends a hot afternoon traipsing up and down the street until she is able to peer behind an overgrown hedge and identify the façade. She is more than surprised when the door is answered by a woman in a 19th centure dress. What is even more startling is that she has been expected. I shan’t detail the plot for you because it is the revealing of layer after layer of mysterious history, much like the peeling back of layer after layer of an onion before Ariel understands what her role in this old house is to be. It is nothing less than a love story waiting to be placed out after more than a century and a half of waiting. An abusive boyfriend from Asheville tracks her down and attempts to intrude on Ariel’s knew found security and comfort. Dealing with his unwanted attention and trying to fit into her unusual surroundings form the core of the plot. Ms. Walker is a deft writer. Her prose serves this unusual story rather well. A brief bio on the back of the book claims that Ms. Walker does not know what she wants to be when she grows up. I would have to say she is well on her way to being a rather credible writer. Interesting book.

Ghost-story Writer inspired by house in Goldsboro

Phyllis Moore
USA (5/12/2003)

A former Goldsboro resident has published a mystery-suspense novel set in the city and loosely inspired by a house on George Street. “101 Borden Street” by Susan Eileen Walker can be ordered on-line from PublishAmerica. “It’s really a dream come true,” she said. “I have worked for this for 25 years. To actually be able to hold the book after I have had a number of projects fall through in the past, it’s just an incredible rush.” Ms. Walker was stationed in Greensboro in 1983 as a medical administration specialist with the Air Force. While here, she married, had a son and began a series of career changes. She worked as a receptionist, an office manager and medical transcriptionist. But all the while, she wrote stories. She moved to New Bern in 1999, but maintained her connection to the area through a home-based medical transcription business, which she started after working for Wayne Memorial hospital for nearly 15 years. For the last nine years, she has volunteered over 4,100 hours at the hospital by knitting hats for premature babies, which she continues to send monthly. This is her first published book. She said the first draft was written 10 years ago. She worked on it daily for a few months, then would pick it up every couple of years and make revisions. “People would say, ‘This is good but there’s a problem here’ and that would spark another revision,” she said. “A lot of people have had a hand in this book.” She said the house where the story is set is one that had always intrigued her because it couldn’t be seen from the road. “There is a Borden Street,” she said. “But there is no 100 block. The actual house is at the corner of George and Walnut streets. It’s a big yellow house on the corner. “There used to be very big bushes hiding it all around the yard. I went by about six months ago and they had taken the bushes down, so now you can see it.” The book is a love story that occurs 160 years after a couple was separated by murder, and has a layer of suspense added when the main character’s abusive ex-boyfriend follows the woman as she seeks to overcome her past. She said there was an angel sitting on her shoulder, telling her the story that “just kind of happened. It was really scary.” “I didn’t know where it was going from one day to the next, what was going to happen/ The story was writing itself.” Ms. Walker said her publisher is considering another book she written called “Sacrifice and Secrets.” It is the story of two brothers who parted 15 years ago and one returns to their small mountain home in West Virginia, reunites with his brother, finds love and stays there. She is working on another book, reviewing manuscripts she already has at home, and would love to see some of her work made into a movie.

looks like a winner!

Lynn Barry, author of "Puddles" and "Bjoyfl"
Andover, NY (2/5/2003)

Ghosts...you got my interest...looks like a winner!

Excellent Premise!

Linda
MD (1/27/2003)

Great writing combines with a well-paced build up of important clues to the rest of the storyline. Ariel is an engaging character from the get-go. Bravo on this one!

A Visual Treat

Dinah
Pennsylvania (1/25/2003)

This is a stay-up-til-2-in-the-morning-reading-til-I’m-done kinda book! The author invites the reader step by step into the visual mysterious world of Borden Street complete with a shudder and a chill! You won’t be sorry you stayed up late!

A Vision of Hope

Melody
Baltimore, Maryland (1/25/2003)

I was on the edge of my seat from the very beginning! The way the Author has blended the elements together is remarkable!

A Book Well Worth Reading

Mary
Colorado (1/25/2003)

Susan Walker’s novel intrigued me from the start. Her dialogue and descriptions are excellent but more than that, her storyline draws you in, making you want to find the answers. Why was Aeriel abandoned as a small child by a woman who apparently loved her? The answer is complicated as the young woman goes in search of her heritage with only a small photo with an address on the back as a clue. This book is well worth reading.

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