Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/02/2013 -- While the world’s seven billion people boast true diversity, each and every person is connected to one another through the process of similarity. Thousands of years have been dedicated to studying this interconnectedness, and with many still searching for their individual place in the world, Ileen McDuring’s debut novel comes as grippingly-fresh perspective.

‘House of Tables’ fuses fact with fiction to provide a real-world examination of similarity.

Synopsis:

Telling one young woman’s struggle for social integration, House of Tables is the first novel by Ileen McDuring. Set in Dallas-Fort Worth two years after the Great Recession, it tells of orphan Cadie Walsh, robotics engineer and guitar virtuoso, after she survives sex-trafficking, St. Fina’s orphanage.

Socially stunted by her experiences and continually shadowed by the voice of deceased Sister Mary Trea, Cadie wants nothing more than to find a family. In a brave move to find one, Cadie participates in National Geographic’s Genographic Project. With results in hand, she embarks on a local journey to connect with four groups, representative of cultures along her ancient ancestors’ variable route out of Africa.

As Cadie connects with her new acquaintances, a discovery allows her to engineer Fala, a robot able to recognize and learn expression and, therefore, interact emotionally. Cadie, in challenging her own damaged social traits, devises an experiment to test and overcome her limitations and, thus, catalyzes the ultimate recipe for failure or success in her acquisition of family, self-expression, and love.

As the author explains, her narrative offers an abundance of real-world relevance.

“It explores what drives us to connect to or distance ourselves from one another. The story explores the ideal that human similarity is powerful enough to cross any ethnic, religious, and cultural barrier. Most people desire to connect to the ancient, the mysterious, about humankind, regardless of relation by close blood kinship,” says McDuring.

Continuing, “The story I tell joins the human need of seeing patterns and meaning to tell a story that shows how we are truly connected - by our genome. It is a romantic, humanist story about one young woman’s drive to overcome childhood trauma and integrate into society without relinquishing her exploration of herself and the truth of who we are.”

Though the novel has just been released, McDuring is expecting positive feedback from readers.

“This is so much more than just fiction; it’s ‘fiction for real life’. Psychological theory can be dry at best but, by wrapping it up in a gripping story, I hope the engrossing life of Cadie will help readers recognize a thing or two about their own lives and the lives of those around them,” she adds.

With the book’s popularity set to increase, interested readers are urged to purchase their copies as soon as possible.

House of Tables, published by Grey Warbler Press, is available now: http://amzn.to/GzRVwP.

About Ileen McDuring
A former software development analyst, Ileen McDuring acquired her love of words and worlds when, as a toddler, she was introduced by her mother to a one-room library of a small Southern town and allowed to read books indiscriminately. In conjunction, Ileen developed her great appreciation for music during many hours spent listening to her great-grandmother play classical guitar and sing. When not writing, Ileen enjoys plunking on her own guitar and discussing philosophy and science. Mother to a beautiful and artistic daughter never afraid to ask “why” and expect evidence, Ileen currently lives in Texas with her husband and ever-loyal puppy.