Women's Fiction

When the Walls Come Tumbling Down by Dannye Williamsen

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On a personal note...
I wrote this book in the summer of 2020 after my husband passed away. It was cathartic in many ways. It helped me deal with my grief, and it pushed me back into living.

When The Walls Come Tumbling Down is a touching, page-turning novel of triumph over fears and sorrows. As it unfolds, it serves to remind us that when a crack appears in our walls and widens, something new has a chance to appear.

Two generations apart, Ashley Stanford and Claire Montoya have very little in common until their universes collide. Each has built walls in their life to survive. Ashley, however, has a head start of nearly six decades over Claire as a brick mason of the psyche. Tragedies have brought them together.

For well over a decade, Ashley has been the caregiver for her husband, who now lives in a nursing home. Trying to rediscover her life, she meets Claire, who is homeless and being stalked by a local drug dealer for reporting him to the police. Ashley takes her in and soon discovers there is much more to her story than she could have imagined.

After committing to helping Claire, Ashley is now faced with her husband’s passing. To help her occupy her mind in her grief, Ashley joins Claire on a journey that could turn both their lives upside down.

Sharon Hensley Giarratana, a loyal reader, wrote: “I love the friendships that are formed throughout this book and how many lives are forever changed. It impressed me that you are never too old to start new beginnings and find that inner strength you never knew you had to start that next chapter in your life. Mrs. Williamsen has once again combined mystery, suspense, caring, and humor to make for a great read. Definitely another page turner!”

Center Stage by Dannye Williamsen

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In her review of Center Stage, Sandy Wolters remarked, “Can you picture it if Mr. Potter were made to examine his life's choices and how those choices affected others? Sounds like fun, doesn't it?”

April Saunders is a talented woman who becomes myopically focused on the brass ring. Basic human values have flown out the window in her search for personal success. Honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, discipline, fairness, and love are casualties of her quest to be center stage. She has barely noticed the trail of human victims left in her wake. Even her husband and daughter join the casualties.

After all these years the tide has turned. She has been left behind. No power. No options. No family. No friends. No hope.

Then a mysterious and seemingly magical woman named Grace appears at her door. Despondent, April is so weak-willed at this point in her life that she allows Grace to take charge, unaware that her life is about to take a turn that few ever get to experience. As she takes a preternatural journey into her past, will her ambition continue to rule her heart? Can there be salvation for one who has betrayed so many?

I would like to share one more snippet of Ms. Wolters’ review that touched me: “The writing in this book is magic, just as with all other books written by Ms. Williamsen. She spins a tale so breathtaking with her words that the reader literally forgets they are reading and feels more like a fly on the wall, watching as each scene progresses and feeling the pain and anguish within the words. My emotions ran the gambit while reading CENTER STAGE. I was filled with anger toward this woman, but by the end of the book, tears were flowing so freely that I was forced to put my Kindle down and regroup before reading the conclusion. Ms. Williamsen has that uncanny ability to make the reader feel empathy for a character that is so unlikeable you just want to beat her with a stick.”