Those People Behind Us: A Novel

Written by Mary Camarillo

Narrated by Timothy G Little

It’s the summer of 2017 in Wellington Beach, California, a suburban coastal town increasingly divided by politics, protests, and escalating housing prices—divisions that change the lives of five neighbors as they search for home and community in a neighborhood where no one can agree who belongs. 

Real estate agent Lisa Kensington juggles her job, her shopaholic husband, a mother who knows how to push her buttons, and teenagers with ideas of their own. Ray Gorman, a haunted Vietnam vet, cares for his aging mother. Keith Nelson, an ex-con, lives in his car, parked near his parents’ house. Sixteen-year-old Josh Kowalski works through the shock of his father’s abandonment by slamming on a drum set. Jeannette Larsen, an aerobics teacher numbed by horrific tragedy, turns away from her husband and toward reckless behavior. In the end, they all discover that despite their differences, they are more connected than any of them would have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: She Writes Press
• Release date: Oct 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798368910505

Mary Camarillo

Mary Camarillo’s award-winning debut novel, The Lockhart Women, was published in June 2021 by She Writes Press. Her poems and short fiction have appeared in publications such as TAB Journal, 166 Palms, Sonora Review, and The Ear. Mary writes about living in Southern California, a place she’s called home for more than fifty-five years and is still trying to understand. She had a long career with the postal service, which might be genetic—both her grandfathers were railway mail clerks. She sorted mail, sold stamps, worked in the accounting office, and went to night school, eventually earning a degree in business administration, a CPA license, and a Certificate in Internal Auditing. She currently serves on the advisory boards of Citric Acid, An Orange County Online Literary Arts Quarterly, and LibroMobile, An Arts Cooperative and Bookstore. Mary lives with her husband who plays ukulele, and their terrorist cat Riley, who makes frequent appearances on Instagram in Huntington Beach, California.