Passage to Paradise

A historical novel

Passage to Paradise is a historical novel set in the Eastern United States and the Middle East in current time.
Playing upon religious practices of sacrifice used in the past, and the development of a potent necrolixir, comes a compelling story with amnesia, romance, hidden family secrets, wealthy family members plotting to create a plausible story for police and businessmen conniving to make profit. All while a plot develops to threaten the continuing existence of Paradise.
While that threat grows, Tara works with her acrylic palette from a photograph. She hoped to avoid the inclination to a segregate surrealism her composition invited. She was experimenting, creating something new, something she had decided to title First Light. It was a metaphor, the truth that dawn's essence lies not in the mere physics and incredible scale of the earth's rotation about its axis, but in something both smaller and larger-an individuation, singularly human reflecting upon itself and the universe.
Will Tara, like Joan of Arc, achieve greatness, or will she fail miserably?

"Hugh Barfield crafts a narrative that easily grabs you from the first page with the burial of two bodies in the middle of the night. With the backdrop of a well-to-do English family initially grappling with the death of two family members, the reader soon finds that there is much more to this family than first meets the eye. There is something for everyone in this story, mystery, deceit, murder, and the occult. Hugh Barfield's writing is characterized by vivid descriptions and his ability to tell a good story. His ability to paint a picture with words is evident on every page with his descriptions of his characters and landscapes. Passage to Paradise by Hugh Barfield is somewhat of a mystery novel with the plot and details becoming clearer as one reads. Mr. Barfield is careful not to give the reader too much, too soon, thus keeping the reader's interest and making the book an enjoyable read. I recommend that you put this book on your reading list."

-Carl Cantrell
Smyrna, Tennessee