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About the Author

About the Author

Ivana Christman decisively opened up her computer just after her fortieth birthday and wrote a story she considered for twenty years. Her goal was to author a book that was suspenseful, exhilarating and emotionally gripping. Ivana is an owner and the President of a management company in the mid-Atlantic where she can be creative, but with limitation. Writing ‘Under The Elm’ was the first chance for her to focus on a passion project without dictation from the outside world; allowing imagination without limitation. After many moves, Ivana now lives with her husband and children back in Indiana, enjoying life’s journey.

Under The Elm

A young teenage girl seeks answers after finding strangers in in her field threatening to kill an unknown man, sitting under the elm tree, in the midst of corn stalks. After shots are fired, she is left to wonder what happened, as when she looks again, there is blood where he sat, but his body no longer in sight. One clue left behind starts her journey for answers…but she might not like what she finds. As she seeks to understand what she witnessed, she uncovers disturbing family secrets at every turn.
She loses her ability to trust anyone around her. As she digs in, she peels back the layers of secrets that connect nearly everyone she knows to crimes of rape, molestation, abuse and potentially… murder.
Her family, the church, friends, and strangers around her carry disturbing secrets that are unimaginable for this small-town girl. She knows she is in over her head, but there is no backing down now.
Her journey for answers to one crime, only lead her to countless others. Her life is turned upside down and when she grows numb from the atrocities she encounters, she is hit one more time. But this time, there might be no turning back.
Black and white headshot

Book Jacket

 

Monty feels like the black sheep in her family. A middle child of many in a religious household, she has never felt like she fits in – she is not as attractive as her sisters, is not popular in school, and has differing world views from everyone else. From more chores to stricter house rules, even her own parents treat her like the odd one out. Her only respite in this dull town is spending time with her friends and going for drives on her four-wheeler. However, this is all soon to change, as she will begin to uncover secrets about her family, the church, and those closest to her that will alter her life and view of her small town. Will she be able to help? Will her family come out the other end unscathed? Or will nothing ever be the same again…?

A disturbing, gripping thriller, Under The Elm is a story that explores the true nature of humanity, and just how dark family secrets really can be.