Region resident Dawn Reynolds, drawing upon the early loss of her mother and the encouragement of others, has written “The Highmore Circle,” a novel chronicling six women who learn to navigate life together.
Writing as Cricket (her nickname) Reynolds, she tells the story of Gracie Anderson, a single college professor in her 30s with a severely lacking personal life whose best friend signs her up for a support group at a local community center.
“The group consists of women with diverse careers and personalities — one is a librarian, one a college professor, others include a fashion consultant, dominatrix, blue collar worker and housewife — who have very little in common except they are motherless,” Reynolds said.
The book, while dealing with complex life issues, also has a lot of humor and a touch of romance in the story plot, she said.
Reynolds, a Dyer resident and vice president of Human Resources at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, started the book 20 years ago but struggled with numerous obstacles — twice her laptops crashed, erasing the entire manuscript. The third rewrite disappeared when a jump drive became corrupted.
“Also in the meantime I got married, had two sons and got divorced,” said Reynolds, who graduated from Highland High School. “But I’ve always realized the importance of all the women in my life, including my sister, who helped me so much and died of cancer 10 years ago, and my friends. The core theme is the importance of having a circle — whatever the circle means to you whether it’s friends or family — that helps you get through difficult times and who are there for you.”
Reynolds, who earned a master’s degree in organizational communications from Purdue University Northwest, is a recipient of Caesars Entertainment Excellence in Leadership Award and Northwest Indiana’s Most Influential Woman of The Year Award. She also is an active supporter in promoting women’s initiatives and is a Lean In Circle moderator within Caesars Entertainment as well as the Global Gaming Women organization.
Describing herself as an avid reader, Michelle Ryba, director of casino marketing at Horseshoe Casino, said she was very eager to read Reynold’s book.
“I absolutely adore Dawn,” Ryba said. “And I thought this is a book by someone I know, not just a big name author. From the first chapter, I was hooked, I stayed up reading it until 2:30 p.m. because I wanted to find out how it ended.”
Ryba describes “The Highmore Circle” as touching and humorous.
“I laughed when I read the book, but also I related to it emotionally. We’ve all loss someone in our lives, and so I understand the feelings you have. I’m impressed with Dawn’s writing. She’s just as good Janet Evanovich or J.D. Robb, two of my favorite writers.”
Since her book has been published, Reynolds has been a New York Times and Publisher’s Weekly featured author, appeared on “Fox Good Day Chicago” to discuss her book and received starred reviews from BlueInk, Clarion and Kirkus as well as wining iUniverse’s Editor’s Choice and Rising Star awards.
“The Highmore Circle” is available at Barnes & Noble and online book sellers. For more information, visit www.thehighmorecircle.com.
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