Inertia
“Only the good die young,” croons Billy Joel, and we all know exactly what he’s talking about. It is always those who are too light, too bright for this planet that seem to make their exits early. We concede that it could be in part because they are immortalized in the bloom of their youth, too soon to make the mistakes the rest of us make sooner or later and live to regret, but we wonder, somehow, if it isn’t something more than that.
What if…they are special? Spirits, angels even, who have agreed somewhere out in the ether, before they took bodies in this life, to come to earth for only short periods at a time, bless those they come in contact with intensely, and then leave again, lift off into the next cycle of life and love? And what if…you had the unlikely experience of knowing such a spirit twice in one lifetime? Once as their peer and once as their elder?
How we long for such a reprieve from the losses we experience, how we hope to be brushed, even for an instant, with the ethereal traces of the one who is gone from us. What if it happened for real, and you knew it?
That’s exactly what happens to Jake Jameson. In the inertia of his grieving, will his desire to hold onto angels that elude him cause him to lose the one that’s been there all along?
Reviews
"There is great art to the manner in which Tait intently elicits the power of youthful passion and friendship while gently prying the band-aid from the wounds of mature grief in order to spread a spiritual balm capable of freeing hearts and souls. She writes in beautiful, vivid, nuanced prose, guiding us through an entrancing, ethereal weave of beginning and end, where we become instantly and steadfastly connected to Inertia's select cast of characters - seemingly molded from our own flesh, in the silhouette of our own spirit - and are enticed into their compelling story." —Mary Boland
“Kim Cope Tait's Inertia is a beautiful intersection of poetry and prose. Heartbreaking and healing at the same time, Inertia takes the reader through the pain and eventual understanding of loss. Tait and her characters are poets, processing their grief through words as much as actions. Inertia is soothing, much like the ocean waves Tait describes with such care.” —Jane Booth
From the moment I opened the book, I felt a connection to Inertia, that I have never felt with any other novel in my life. Each and everyone has lost someone and sometimes we just can't accept their death. This was how I felt for almost 12 years trying to cope with the loss of someone incredibly special to me. I read Inertia in less than 24 hours and was moved to tears. My heart was filled with this incredible warmth and finally I was able to come to peace with losing Ryan. I've read Inertia four times, and each time, I'm touched by something different. You are enveloped in the innocence of youth, the magic of souls, the transformation into adulthood and the destiny of love. I hope that when you read Kim Cope Tait's novel, Inertia, it touches your soul the way it has mine. —Debbi Wraga