never disclosing her secret - By the River by Jae Carvel

On her one trip back to New York to visit her mother, Sarah Ann discovers she has been living a lie. The truth liberates her from the reserved stoic nature she has portrayed toward others during her first forty years. The last quarter of the century becomes a backdrop for a modern woman of subtle influence.

Description:

Published: March 31st, 2015

With three young children at her side, Sarah Ann arrives in the beautiful upper John Day Valley in 1869, a young widow whose husband had disappeared in an Indian raid on their way west.

In 1870, she marries Thomas Martin and begins her life as a rancher’s wife. She and Thomas are successful, hardworking pioneers who love their land and take seriously the job of rearing and educating their nine children.

On her one trip back to New York to visit her mother, Sarah Ann discovers she has been living a lie. The truth liberates her from the reserved stoic nature she has portrayed toward others during her first forty years. The last quarter of the century becomes a backdrop for a modern woman of subtle influence.

Experiencing a new self-worth, Sarah Ann shares her ideas and wisdom with her family and community while never disclosing her secret.

GUEST POST

My inspiration for historical fiction comes from the many stories I heard as a child in our small eastern Oregon town. I was an only child who was privy to the conversations I heard as an eavesdropper. My parents were born there, my grandparents were born there, and my great grandparents all came there in wagon trains in the second half of the 19th century. When May 30 arrived, we always went to the cemetery to clear weeds from the graves and place our bouquets of lilacs and peonies, weighted down with a rock in the bottom of the tomato juice can that had been stripped of its paper label.

The grown-ups worked and I spent time roaming through the headstones, checking names and dates. I discovered my great great grandmother was the oldest person I could find buried there. Someone later shared with me that she came west long after her son had settled, so she was an old woman when she arrived and of course, a very old woman when she died. These bits and pieces of information lodged in my brain and I use them in my stories today.

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About the author:

Jae Carvel’s work is inspired by the many stories of her ancestors who all came to Eastern Oregon as pioneers. She is retired from teaching junior high. She and her husband have four children, six grandchildren and one great granddaughter, making them a typically busy family, laughingly known as ‘retired.’ Jae travels, gardens, golfs and writes novels.

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