When Sleeping Dreams Wake

By Paul Smit

Set in Sea Cliff, New York, this story follows thirty-three-year-old Paul, who moves to the suburbs in search of greener pastures after his city romance has run its course. Frustrated by the lack of direction in his life and career, he hopes a new beginning will provide inspiration for much-needed change.

However, after moving into 379 Sea Cliff Avenue, a grand multimillion-dollar Victorian landmark on the North Shore of Long Island, he soon suspects the owners are hiding an uncomfortable truth about how they came to own the property. The house's previous owner, Leonora, had no surviving heirs. In exchange for looking after her, with presumably only months to live, she promised to leave the house to Dave and Gio Moretti. But Leonora lived for another fifteen years.

At first, Paul sees an incredible act of altruism. The Morettis didn't need the money; they were simply keeping a promise.

But then Paul learns that Leonora was partly revered in the small town, and partly reviled, making any association with her difficult to understand. Drawn in by the magnetic past of Leonora and the contrasting accounts of her life, he follows a trail that leads to Kings Park, the infamous psychiatric hospital, closed for twenty years. One of the hospital's old patients, a woman Paul believes was never mentally ill, has re-emerged with a clear frame of mind and a solitary goal: a desire for vengeance against the owners of 379 Sea Cliff Avenue. Its residents-including Paul-are in more danger than they realize.

The novel combines the same exciting pace and mystery of Joel Dicker's The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair with the rich character development of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, and deals with the contemporary phenomenon of old social mores evolving into indictments before the living can escape the consequences.

WHEN SLEEPING DREAMS WAKE is the exciting debut work of New York resident Paul Smit. You can find his short stories in The Write Launch, Wild Roof Journal, Untenured, and other publications.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GQJ3MBZL
• ISBN13: 9798248161317
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"