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Susan E. Sage
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A Mentor and Her Muse Kindle Edition

by Susan Sage (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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Under the guise of mentor and muse, a frustrated writer and her ambitious teenage protégé take an illicit summer road trip fraught with racial and sexual tension. This is a compelling psychological novel about social norms, artistic ambition, and obsession.

Maggie Barnett works in the media center of a school in Flint, Michigan where she meets Taezha Riverton, an aspiring teenage writer. After discovering that Maggie is also a writer, Taezha turns to her as both mentor and friend.

Alone and childless, it's not enough for Maggie to take Tae to restaurants and poetry slams. Although Tae’s mother has nothing against Maggie, she is less than thrilled when Maggie proposes to take her daughter on a summer road trip. Permission is never explicitly granted, but shortly after school is out for the summer, Maggie and Tae head for the Southeast.
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  1. Print length
    268 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    31 December 2017
  5. File size
    3484 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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About the Author

SUSAN SAGE was a recipient of Wayne State University's Tompkins Award in Creative Writing. An educator for over twenty years, Susan has worked as an adult education teacher, an educational coordinator, and an academic interventionist at both the elementary and secondary levels. Born in Detroit, Susan lives in Flushing, Michigan, with her husband, Tom, and two cats. They have a daughter, Sarah, who is also an author.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B078R219DN
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3484 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 268 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

About the author

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Susan E. Sage

Susan E. Sage

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Susan E. Sage, was born (1956) in Detroit, Michigan, to Joyce and Robert Sage. Youngest of three daughters, she received her undergraduate degree in English from Wayne State University in Detroit and has done post-graduate work at the University of Michigan-Flint. She was a recipient of the Tompkin's Award in Poetry (1981), and has published her poetry in numerous literary magazines. Susan is a multi-genre novelist. A MENTOR AND HER MUSE was published in 2018, and INSOMINY was published in 2010. She is a fan of Historical Fiction, Magic Realism, and Contemporary Fantasy literature. Susan has one daughter (Sarah), loves cats, smooth jazz, blues, art, and poetry.

Susan's latest novel, DANCING IN THE RING, will be released in June 2023.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
16 global ratings

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Top review from Australia

Angela Hayes
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing!
Reviewed in Australia on 3 November 2019
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4 Stars

A Mentor and Her Muse intrigued me from the moment I saw the cover. I was going to read it no matter what, but the blurb certainly sealed the deal for me. Colour me intrigued! This is my first read from Susan Sage, so I really had no idea of what to expect from her. Having finished the story, I am happy to report that I will be stalking, scratch that, I mean ‘following’ Ms. Sage’s work now, and into the future.
This story has a lot going on in it- but Susan Sage choreograph the whole thing superbly. From the complex characters, to the complicated situations, emotive elements, the ‘psychological’ character study, the thought provoking nature of the relationship… and storyline, to the philosophical undertone to the story- as well as all the other clever and creative elements Ms. Sage has textured her story with- made for quite an engrossing and memorable read.
There were times I felt very unsettled by what I was reading- feeling like the mentor/mentee relationship was blurring lines which should not be crossed. But I think that is/was Ms. Sage’s intent the whole way through. She certainly had me paying attention, and gave me plenty to think about.
We certainly get a front row seat to all the highs and lows, and other developments as they happen. I felt like a passenger, along for the trip.
The character development, growth, and/or unravelling, was so well done. These individuals were crafted into ‘being’- with their own unique personalities, quirks, and flaws. Ms. Sage gives us vastly different perspectives to follow, and keeps each one on point- not an easy task shifting from the mindset of a 53 year old woman- to that of a teenage girl. So, amongst other things, I am really impressed with her character development skills.
The story has quite and artistic/poetic feel to it- which really suited the characters and storyline. Now I am really looking forward to seeing what Ms. Sage does next!

Thank you, Ms. Sage!
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Top reviews from other countries

Eva Pasco
5.0 out of 5 stars Crossing the Line
Reviewed in the United States on 13 February 2024
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Author Susan Sage’s ‘ A Mentor and Her Muse’ is a reader’s psychological mine field. The lines of distinction between mentor and muse are blurred, skewing Maggie Barnett’s purpose for shanghaiing her protégé, Taezha Riverton, to embark on a summer road trip together for the primary purpose of honing Tae’s writing ability.

Along this journey, the author cleverly drops bread crumbs via Maggie’s journal writing or her dissociative thoughts: failed relationships, writer’s block, poor self-image, flitting from one idea to another, kleptomania, and what she was doing on Hocking Hill Bridge.

The reader not only questions Maggie’s judgment and suppressed intents toward Tae, but unwittingly becomes her judge and jury.

All is not what it seems in Tae’s life either. Tyler, Serafina, and Quintana play an important role in fostering her hopes and disappointments. Then, there’s Maggie’s sister Caroline, and the mysterious Sulie who vex her to no end.

Besides crossed lines and twisted outlooks, the author adds authenticity to the initial setting of Detroit and Flint Michigan by bringing up the aftermath of the Sixties’ riots.

True to life, the outcome of the story is up for speculation, allowing the reader to suppose. In my supposing, I care more for how Tae will continue to hold her ground.

I heartily recommend ‘A Mentor and Her Muse’ for the musings it inspires.
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HM Holten
5.0 out of 5 stars Obsession and Longing
Reviewed in Germany on 17 July 2022
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Maggie, middle-aged and white has lost her ability to write after her first, moderately successful book. She works in the library at a school in Flint, Michigan.

Taezha (Tae) is a black teenager with a considerable writing talent. Her mother has several children and lives a chaotic life.

When Maggie and Tae meet, they inevitably form a connection as mentor and muse.

The central part of the novel is a road trip that Maggie undertakes together with Tae. There are faint allusions to Lolita in this, but Maggie is different from Humbert. Maggie is a tortured soul, obsessed with doors that she photographs everywhere. Her secret chamber never opens completely but her contemplations knock on the door from time to time. She is lost in dreams but doesn’t act them out. Tae is attracted to her mentor but also repelled. This creates tension between the two characters, and that is the real suspense in this flawless book.

Multiple points of view can be difficult to execute, but Susan Sage dissects her main characters in her exceptional rendition of an existentialist and somewhat troubling study.
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Daniel from Norwich
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping psychological fiction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 March 2022
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Ordinary-seeming Maggie Barnett wears several hats in her position at Jefferson Middle & High School in Flint, Michigan, where she befriends a student, Taezha (Tae) Riverton. A shared love of writing nourishes their fellowship. Maggie sees Tae as her mirror image and believes that their spirits dance, spin and leap in recognition.

Tae, a young black girl, lives with her three sisters and their mother, Quintana. Despite financial insecurity and her abuse of drugs and alcohol, Quintana encourages her daughters to get a good education and the girls know they are loved. Tae is confident, beautiful, intellectually curious and a gifted writer.

Maggie is white, childless and never married, has had some success with one published novel but, now in her fifties, lacks confidence and purpose. ‘When one turns fifty, one more or less realises how life has turned out, even though it is (hopefully) far from over.’

Tae was close to Quintana’s late sister, Serafina, and corresponds with Tyler, an old flame of Serafina. Tyler lives near Monroe, North Carolina on a 40-acre homestead. Without explicit consent from Quintana, Maggie, at 52, proposes to a 15-year-old Tae a road trip to Munroe to meet Tyler. Tae needs little persuasion and they begin their journey, stalked by the mysterious Sulie Rowen.

Maggie tells herself that she aims to expand Tae’s horizons and give her opportunities. She sees herself as Tae’s mentor and Tae as her muse. They will enrich each other’s life; inspiration will come and they will write. Their destination is Munroe, but their journey is with whomsoever they travel.

En route, Susan Sage drip-feeds Maggie’s backstory. We learn of Maggie’s transitory relationships with men, being overshadowed by a sister who is the only constant in her life, her kleptomania, her miscarriages and termination of pregnancy, how her parents overdosed in a suicide pact rather than move into assisted accommodation and her own suicidal thoughts.

As we explore the psychology of the characters, we probe the darkest corners of Maggie’s mind. She is driven by internal conflict, obsession and a yearning to be needed. By the time she throws Tae’s cell phone to the bottom of a pond for spending too much time texting, the muse is not enjoying her mentor’s attention, finding her confusing and unpredictable. Tension seethes until the last page.

I have seen ‘A Mentor and Her Muse’ referred to as a ‘psychological thriller’. For what it’s worth, I think it fits more comfortably in the ‘psychological realism’ genre.

I found it fascinating to contemplate why Maggie does what she does and how it affects Tae. There is much left to the speculation of the reader — not least of which, the question: is Tae a mentored student or a victim?
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Susan Rooke
5.0 out of 5 stars GRIPPING AND SATISFYING
Reviewed in the United States on 29 April 2019
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Do not make assumptions about this book based on a quick glance at its lovely cover image, nor on its innocent-sounding title. A closer look at the cover will show you the truth of Susan Sage’s disturbing tale of obsession: a brick wall, and in it, a wooden door so crisscrossed with wiry vines that it cannot be opened.

Maggie is middle-aged and white, a writer whose promising career fizzled not long after she produced in her 30s a single, modestly successful novel. Childless and never married after a series of failed relationships, still reeling from the tragic loss of her parents, she takes a job at a school in Flint, Michigan, and soon forms a strong attachment to a black teenage girl named Taezha (or Tae), a gifted student with writerly talent. Maggie hatches an ill-advised plan to mentor Tae, intending to nurture the girl’s writing by taking her on an extended road trip, far away from her chaotic homelife. At the same time Maggie hopes to use Tae as a muse to inspire her own writing, which has languished for too long. Though Tae is initially a willing traveling companion, when the trip drags on she becomes increasingly ambivalent and sometimes even fearful, as Maggie’s need to control their relationship begins to isolate the two of them.

The story strongly reminded me of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, perhaps the quintessential tale of obsessive longing, and to my mind, A Mentor and Her Muse is a worthy successor. It’s a gripping book swirling with existentialist undercurrents, and reading it, I began to feel deeply unsettled. Sage reveals Maggie’s self-destructive behaviors in stages, so skillfully that at times the shock took my breath away. Using shifting points of view, the author is also careful to peel back slowly the layers of her other principal characters, so that when their true (and sometimes very unexpected) feelings were exposed, the emotional impact stunned me. I learned that for Maggie, doors are a powerful metaphor, making the door on the book’s cover even more fitting than I had supposed. Ultimately, doors are a means of escape, and can open to new paths and reinvention, all of which left me very satisfied with the book’s conclusion.

Susan Sage’s A Mentor and Her Muse is a compelling story well told, both a riveting psychological study and an accomplished work of literary fiction. Highly recommended.
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Kevin
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2019
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This is a tightly-plotted and morally complex novel that draws you into the mindsets of its two main characters. Susan Sage writes with great care and skill, creating a psychological story that fascinates from the outset.
Fifty-something teacher, Maggie Barnett, a frumpy loner prone to hot flushes and idealism, sees the literary potential of teenage student, Tae Riverton, a fledgeling writer from a poor black neighbourhood. Theirs is a meeting of minds, a mutual synergy. Maggie takes Tae under her wing, mentoring her and turning her into a human project. In return, Tae likes to drink from her teacher’s fountain of knowledge. The couple’s dynamic put me in mind of the movie ‘Lost in Translation’: two polar opposites thrown together by circumstance, forming an unlikely alliance.
Maggie’s life has been one of endless disappointments, so she attempts to relive it vicariously through her talented protégé.
Inevitably, well-intentioned mentoring morphs into infatuation and makes for a compelling, claustrophobic read. One senses that the teacher’s unhealthy obsession will bring her inexorably to the precipice, which kept me turning the pages to find out what where it would all lead.
Maggie’s stream of consciousness continues throughout the story and the duo’s co-dependency is as changeable as the wind. Revelations, reminiscences and life lessons abound and loyalties are tested as Sage capably guides us through a world of missed opportunities and unrealised ambition.
Though hauntingly sad at times, there is a cry-for-help beauty to Maggie’s story and I look forward to reading more from this author!
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