Sage among the Pines

Lexi Forester, a spoiled fourteen–year–old growing up in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, sees her parents' relationship dissolve overnight into a troubled marriage. Two months later, her father, Tom Forester, is killed in a military training accident. Lexi is lost in grief, and she blames her mother for not resolving her marital issues despite her father's loving, contrite behavior. Even then, her mother refuses to poison Lexi's memory by revealing her father's infidelity.

A few months later, Cynthia, in a self–medicating downward spiral of grief and guilt, gets into a physical argument with Lexi, who declares that she wishes her mother died instead of her father. The verbal assault cuts Cynthia to the core, and she overdoses on prescriptions and alcohol. EMTs are called.

In the aftermath, Lexi must live with her grandparents in Vass, North Carolina, while her mother undergoes psychological rehabilitation in Asheville, North Carolina. Grandparents Rand and Linda Templeton take custody of Lexi and try to help her let go of her anger. They entrust her with caring for their horses, and they take her on rides through the horse trails of Vass, where they talk about integrity, love, empathy, leadership, listening, and other character traits.

Jump on the emotional roller coaster in Sage among the Pines to feel Cynthia's anger over her husband's affair and Lexi's grief over losing her father and hostility and indifference toward her mother. Ride through the pines on horseback with Lexi and her grandparents and listen to their wisdom under the tranquil pines.

Find out if Lexi learns to let go of her anger, if Cynthia ever forgives herself, or if Lexi absorbs her grandparents' wisdom in Sage among the Pines!

-- Mark R. Anderson