In the 1980s, Mary Edwards watches as her daughter Emily fights for her life against leukemia. With each visit to the hospital, Mary finds herself drawn to the research floor, and meeting with a mysterious man named Bun who educates her on the advancement of stem cells, and the critical work being done by Dr. Randall Byrne, before he abandoned his research after a psychotic break and disappeared into the night many years ago.

As Emily finally succumbs to her cancer, Mary, in her grief, finds herself on the park bench outside the hospital where Emily suffered and fought, and meets the long-lost Dr. Byrne. Miraculously, he has found a way to travel back in time, to a pivotal moment. Mary takes a leap and is sent twenty-four years into the past to save Dr. Byrne and, through his research, her Emily.

A bittersweet story of grief, love, reconnections, and reflection, Pastense is a heartbreakingly beautiful take of one woman's journey through the past, present, and hopeful future.

About the Author

Robert Gordon Johnson is an orthopedic surgeon who trained in Toronto, where Pastense takes place. He has been involved in stem cell research, and the science presented in this novel is real. Johnson loves to read, write, and exercise at the gym. He has run a dozen marathons and participated in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii three times. Johnson still practices orthopedic surgery in San Antonio, where he lives with his wife Andrea, son Colin, and two cats. He has a son and daughter, Richard and Rachel, from a previous marriage.

Much of the inspiration for Pastense came from the death of a friend’s child from leukemia.

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