New Books In Literature

Sparks fly in Megan Staffel’s novel, The Causative Factor (Regal House 2024), when Rachel is randomly paired with Rubiat, a fellow student, for an assignment in their college art class. After a heavenly night together, they go hiking, and he dives off a cliff, disappearing without a trace. Although Rachel graduates with an art degree, moves to New York, and supports her painting as an ESL teacher, she’s scarred for years by the mystery of Rubiat’s disappearance. This is a sweet coming-of-age, but also a suspense-filled novel told in shifting viewpoints, about art, growing up, making choices, and finding love. Megan Staffel splits her time between a farm in western New York State and an apartment in Brooklyn. She is an avid walker, bird watcher, and gardener. Her new novel, The Causative Factor, was inspired by a hike she took with her husband in a state park in October, 2020 and grew into a story about an artist trying to understand the mysterious disappearance of her lover. Staffel's interest in the arts and