Book Spotlight: The Circle of Willis by H.G. Hedger

A little bit about H.G. Hedger…

My love of words began at the knees of my mother and father, who read to us daily, opening the doors and windows of imagination. While growing up in Oklahoma, I wrote stories and staged plays for my siblings. In college, I double-majored in Psychology and Creative Writing & Literature, and while at the University of Michigan, I was honored with a Hopwood Undergraduate Award.

Then life happened. I dove in headfirst. Three children, six rescue dogs, and a nursing career later, I picked up the pen again. What began as a quiet return to writing reminded me that this wasn’t just something I used to love—it was part of who I am.

The Circle of Willis Blurb

Tag line: A soldier’s calling. A daughter’s search. Two lives forever altered—and a bond that may be their only way back.

Ray Shipworth had a plan: serve his country, marry his girlfriend, and build a life in small-town Oklahoma. But war left scars that home can’t heal—and the woman he thought would wait, didn’t.

Leo Lightfoot, the daughter of Ray’s high school coach, is an outsider yearning for more. Just as she’s about to graduate, a long-buried family secret shatters her world. Now, she’s clawing her way back, one step at a time.

Years after a single night connected them in silence and compassion, Ray and Leo return to the town they once tried to leave behind. Strangers to themselves but not to each other, they form a fragile pact to help one another heal.

Spanning a decade of war, recovery, and reckoning, The Circle of Willis is a portrait of trauma and tenderness, of friendship, forgiveness, and the long road home. With unflinching honesty and quiet grace, this novel asks: How do we find peace when the past won’t let go–and are we ever truly beyond saving?

This is a spotlight on “The Circle of Willis” by H.G. Hedger

Inspiration to write The Circle of Willis…

The Circle of Willis is a remarkable, adaptive structure at the base of the brain, designed to protect and preserve life, even when something goes wrong. That image stayed with me as I wrote this novel, because recovery from trauma often depends on a similar kind of resilience: one that draws not just from within, but from the strength of connection.

This story was shaped by years of listening to the stories of everyday people, and by the deeply personal experience of having two of my sons serve in the Army during wartime. Their journeys—before, during, and after—opened my eyes to the unseen battles so many face long after the uniforms come off.

The Circle of Willis is a tribute to them, and to anyone who has ever had to fight their way back from the brink. But more than anything, it’s a celebration of the incredible tenacity of the human spirit—to endure, to adapt, and to find a way forward.

One of H.G. Hedger’s favourite excerpts from The Circle of Willis…

First, she noticed his eyes. They were guarded, an eerie, impenetrable blue from which no light was reflected. Ray. He moved closer to her and stopped. His intense, edgy gaze traveled over her, but not in the way she was used to with Jake or his friends. Ray took in her entirety, a trained soldier’s look that missed no detail. She was not objectified, but even more unnerving; she felt uncovered, seen.�

The Circle of Willis is available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other retailers as listed by the Wild Rose Press. Free on the Libby and Hoopla app (through your local library).

https://wildrosepress.com/product/the-circle-of-willis/