As many of you know MY NOVELS are set in Civil War and post-Civil War America. I thought it would be fun each week to focus on a different year of music from 1860-1900. Maybe my characters were listening to these songs back in the day. ENJOY.
Tag: 19th century
Fiction: The Morning After Pill
Thankful Crenshaw wakes to find her position at Fort Grant changed.
Thankful had just finished buttoning up the smallest child for a walk out in the morning air when Miss Peckham, wrapped in one of Thankful’s favorite robes, descended the stairs from the bedroom. Miss Peckham motioned for one of the children to give up his seat and pointed to the door. The child left politely.
“Oh, I’ve such a head this morning! Late nights can be such a bother,” Miss Peckham lamented. “And such busy bees you are; banging around all morning.”
“Have you been crying?” Thankful asked.
Miss Peckham gave her a barely tolerant look. “No, of course not. Why?”
“Your eyes are horribly puffed and your poor complexion is so ruddy.”
Mrs. Markham scolded Thankful with her eyes. “Miss Peckham, are you hungry?”
“Positively famished,” Miss Peckham said while adjusting Thankful’s flower arrangement on the dining table.
“Too bad you missed breakfast,” Thankful said, scooping up a toddler.
Miss Peckham smiled. “My, Miss Crenshaw, with that child in your arms you look like a dear old matron.”
Thankful opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Markham again stepped in. “Thankful, please go to the kitchen and fetch our guest coffee and toast.”
“Have you got eggs?” Miss Peckham asked.
“No, I’m sorry . . . but Thankful will go next-door to Mrs. Tremble, and see if she’s got an egg to spare.”
Thankful deposited the messy toddler onto Miss Peckham’s lap and stormed off to Mrs. Tremble’s quarters. She knocked until the hired-on Mexican girl Anita answered, peeved at the racket. Thankful pushed past the servant. It annoyed Anita that Thankful held her nose so high when she was still just hired help until she married Lieutenant Fahy.
Mrs. Tremble spent hours upon hours doing needlework and studying the occult. She claimed to talk to dead soldiers though living ones did their best to avoid her and her weird husband who’d lost one of his eyes to a bear (though some said it was a bar brawl in St. Joseph). He never bothered with a patch.
Mrs. Tremble’s eyes were serpentine green and her dark old teeth gave Thankful shivers. But who cared about her feelings now that Miss Peckham was here? Thankful sniffled.
“Miss Crenshaw, how nice to see you.”
“I-I need an egg, please.”
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Tremble said over her glasses as she pulled a red thread through her needlework.
Thankful burst into tears. “An egg. May I borrow one?”
Mrs. Tremble dropped her work and went to Thankful. “My dear, what in heaven’s name is wrong? Of course you may have an egg. Take two even . . .”
“No, no, it’s not the egg,” Thankful sobbed, wiping her eyes on her apron. “Oh, I don’t know what it is exactly.”
“Have you and the lieutenant quarreled? Do tell!”
“No, never mind. I’ve just behaved childishly, but Miss Peckham is so awful!”
“Miss Peckham? The lady on the horse?” Mrs. Tremble asked.
“Yes, and I think that she’ll take advantage of William.”
“I’ve never seen your friend William smile so much as he did last night at the dance.”
“I don’t care!” Thankful cried. “And we’ve had breakfast already, and she has the nerve to ask for an egg after she was offered toast! Miss Peckham is forward and ugly—don’t you agree?”
“Now Thankful, I’ve never heard you be so mean before. It’s unattractive.”
“Have you got any spells maybe?” Thankful eyed the mantle full of skulls and glass balls.
“Spells?” Mrs. Tremble giggled. “I’m afraid not, but here’s some advice—there’s no protecting others in love.”
“Love? Who said anything about that? William was drunk, and that’s why he behaved so foolishly. He’ll realize it today, I bet.”
“Or not. Bill didn’t look so foolish to me,” Mrs. Tremble said. “He’s a handsome young man. Miss Peckham seems to have done him a world of good. He was never meant for you, young lady.”
“No. You’re wrong,” Thankful said blushing. “I mean about Miss Peckham. May I have the egg, please?”
Mrs. Tremble returned to her chair and rocked. “Anita will give you one. Cheer up; your friend will be fine. You’ll see, dear.”
“I think that I know my friend best, Mrs. Tremble, but thanks all the same.”
PREVIOUS EPISODE: WEARY OF RUNNING
Excerpted from WEARY OF RUNNING. Read more about Buck Crenshaw, his sister Thankful and William Weldon’s misadventures when you buy the book today!
“The second installment in The Tenafly Road Series definitely did not disappoint. With the introduction of new characters and the return of familiar ones, Weary of Running made for an exciting read. The protagonist, Thankful, is the real highlight of the novel. She consistently makes very poor decisions but in the end, you can understand why she has made every last one of them. The story ranges from love and romance to questions of faith and morality. It does all this without being preachy and explores many angles of different aspects of life. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.” Amazon Review
“Buck Crenshaw is my favorite dysfunctional lovable character.”
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Thoughts on Romantic Reformers
“When the romantic fails to illuminate or enlighten others, and when social reform is slow to come—or seems not to come at all—then he or she can only resort to violence.”
The Nation review of Man’s Better Angels: Romantic Reformers and the Coming of the Civil War by Philip F. Gura
“They have no heart, no sympathy, no reason, no conscience … They will keep no friend, unless he make himself the mirror of their purpose; they will smite and slay you, and trample your dead corpse under foot, all the more readily, if you take the first step with them, and cannot take the second, and the third, and every other step of their terribly straight path.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Blithedale Romance
***featured image: The Gang by John George Brown
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Fiction: Wine With Supper
“Why is it you think women would improve politics?” Thankful asked. “I’d hate for a woman like you to speak for me—nothing personal, of course, Miss Peckham. I’m fond of men. I wouldn’t want them to change.”
“Miss Crenshaw, (you seem such a smart girl), was it God who planned slavery?”
“Well, no, I guess it was men, but . . .”
“Just like it’s men who keep women from the vote. I don’t for a minute expect women to be better voters. Most women are too stupid to realize how enslaved they are and would probably waste their votes on a handsome yet stupid candidate. But if the Negro, only up from complete and utter ignorance, should vote then why not a woman? Many slaves loved their masters—or at least the security they were given. They had a home and food and a place in the order of things—just like women. They all need to see the real way of things. I consider myself an educator. . .” Miss Peckham proclaimed.
“My father never offered my mother security, and she’s devoted just the same,” William said, never missing an opportunity to snipe at his father. There was an embarrassed silence. The trumpeter called for stable duty.
“My goodness, how do you all put up with that infernal racket?” Miss Peckham complained.
“I love it,” Thankful said with her arms folded in front of her.
“Me too,” William said with a small smile at Thankful.
She offered no such response, but said quietly, “It was low of you, William, to speak so unkindly of your father in front of a stranger and old military acquaintances.”
“Bill gets a scolding. How nice,” Miss Peckham laughed.
William fumed. “Miss Crenshaw, you have no right to judge me at all!”
“I’m your friend.”
“Really?” William asked.
“Why, yes! How can you question that?” Thankful replied on the verge of tears. “Why do you want to hurt me?”
“Hurt you?” William was taken aback.
Mrs. Markham spoke uneasily, “Of course we’re all friends—Bill, don’t be so silly—we ALL miss you at the post. Now, I’ll set up a nice meal for us, and we’ll get along—as we must—till morning.”
William looked at Thankful with soft eyes before turning his attention to Miss Peckham. He cleared his throat. “Mrs. Markham always has nice meals.”
“It will be an excellent chance at research,” Miss Peckham said.
“You’re not visiting a foreign land,” Mrs. Markham said, with an annoyed laugh. “Our food is of the most ordinary sort.”
“I’ll be the judge of that!” Miss Peckham laughed too.
The matron glanced at the telegraph line as she set off for home, with the small party traipsing behind.
Thankful and William understood how frugal an army wife—even an officer’s wife–must be if she had any ideas for her children’s education, or a trip east for a wardrobe change every few years. What the captain’s wife offered that evening was more than she could afford.
William ate reluctantly, figuring the little ones seated in the kitchen might be going with less, but didn’t turn down the wine. Thankful ate like a bird—an unusual trait for a Crenshaw. Miss Peckham pushed the ordinary and bland food on her plate with her fork, unimpressed.
“Maybe someone might offer to take me to a real live Indian meal,” she said as she moved her plate away.
William whispered, slurring his words, “What were you expecting soldiers to eat—Indian testicles?”
Miss Peckham let out a big guffaw as Thankful and Mrs. Markham cleared the table for coffee and tea. Thankful, standing with a few stacked plates, watched William cling to his glass, pour another and get closer to Miss Peckham. Mrs. Markham pulled Thankful’s sleeve.
“Some are just bent on their own ruin, poor boy.”
“He’s not poor in the least; just blind,” Thankful said, storming off with the dishes.
Miss Peckham teased and flirted with William. He couldn’t think of a way to quiet her, so he drank and enjoyed it, noting the annoyed glances of Thankful.
“Miss Peckham, you’re probably too worn out to come dancing,” Mrs. Markham said.
“My goodness, of course I’m not tired a lick—your strong army coffee is quite a restorative!”
“I would think that dancing might be against your beliefs since the men lead,” Thankful said with a triumphant grin.
The captain’s wife laughed, too.
Miss Peckham ignored Thankful. “Mr. Weldon, you’ll escort me, won’t you?”
“No, I’m afraid I’m no dancer and unwelcome anyhow,” William replied.
“Bill Weldon, that’s a great fiction you’ve invented,” Mrs. Markham said. “You’ll come as my guest.”
“Well, I’ll come to watch, maybe,” William said, pouring out the last of the wine.
“It’s a shame that dances aren’t held on horseback—then you wouldn’t be so awkward, Mr. Weldon,” Miss Peckham said.
The women did not appreciate it. William excused himself for a smoke on the porch.
“Miss Peckham, you are very insensitive!” Thankful scolded.
“Mr. Weldon is still bitter over the accident that kept him from a place at West Point,” Mrs. Markham added.
Thankful had related many of William’s trials and accomplishments to the garrison. The stories were so enmeshed with her own.
“How is it that Mr. Weldon is so well-known here?” Miss Peckham asked.
“Why Miss Crenshaw and Mr. Weldon are from the same town in New Jersey—their parents are friends, and Bill’s father served in the military years ago under General Crook,” Mrs. Markham said.
“Oh, General Crook, I’ve heard he has kind feelings toward the Indians. Anyway, I’m sure you’re all well-meaning. Bill seems to be a pet to you, but a man should never be overly pampered,” Miss Peckham stated. “My remark was said in jest—Bill is a good horseman.”
“William suffered awful torment and abuse at school, and pain, too. If you had been aware of that . . .” Thankful started.
“I’m aware that he’s crippled physically, but he’s fine company, and I’m sure has many other talents—I didn’t think he needed any coddling.”
There was a new voice on the porch. Thankful ran to the stairs. “Land sakes, Lieutenant Fahy is here, and I’m not ready!”
“Miss Peckham, you may freshen up . . .”
“I need no improvement, Mrs. Markham—besides, I don’t have any of my clothes.”
The captain’s wife sensed a small chink in the young lady’s confident demeanor. “Miss Peckham, you may look through my things, though I know they’re not as modern as you may be used to. We are about the same size.”
PREVIOUS EPISODE: WEARY OF RUNNING
Excerpted from WEARY OF RUNNING. Read more about Buck Crenshaw, his sister Thankful and William Weldon’s misadventures when you buy the book today!
“The second installment in The Tenafly Road Series definitely did not disappoint. With the introduction of new characters and the return of familiar ones, Weary of Running made for an exciting read. The protagonist, Thankful, is the real highlight of the novel. She consistently makes very poor decisions but in the end, you can understand why she has made every last one of them. The story ranges from love and romance to questions of faith and morality. It does all this without being preachy and explores many angles of different aspects of life. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.” Amazon Review
“Buck Crenshaw is my favorite dysfunctional lovable character.”
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LINKS:
Boyhood
Children in 19th-century art reflect nation’s fears, dreams
Image courtesy of National Library of Wales
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What are Your Favorite Film Adaptations of Books?
You know mine will be period pieces set in 19th century America, right?
THE SON
Okay, so I haven’t watched this one yet but I will. Pierce Brosnan in a western family saga? What’s not to like?
GLORY
One of the few movies that captures the nuances of race relations during the American Civil War. The cinematography and music are beautiful.
“The screenplay was written by Kevin Jarre, based on the personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the book One Gallant Rush by Peter Burchard (reissued in 1990 after the movie), and Lay This Laurel (1973), Lincoln Kirstein‘s compilation of photos of the monument to the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on Boston Common.” Wikipedia
THE OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW TELLS ALL
Alan Gurganus tells how he came up with the idea to write this epic saga about a crusty old Civil War veteran who married a very young girl which I devoured when it came out.
Back in the day television networks actually called people at home to complete surveys about miniseries ideas. I answered the phone and they asked me if I’d like to see this book made into a miniseries! They granted my wishes!
What are some of your favorite books made into movies?
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Fiction: Lost Time
William Weldon ponders generational curses . . .
William, now at loose ends, went to see if he’d gotten any mail. He opened a short letter from his father in the old soldier’s pathetic, shaky script.
Dear William,
We are all well here. Mother was very pleased to receive a kind letter from Captain Bourke dated some months ago, but it seems as though you have impressed Captain Markham and the others as we knew you would.
Please tell us when your sketches are published so we can look for them in the magazines. We would like to hear from you more, but we understand about your headaches and all the distractions of the West.
Enclosed is a small bit of money for you, I wish it could be more. Buy a little treat.
Affectionately your father,
John Weldon
His father had great timing—always too late. What was five dollars to him now? William didn’t feel at all guilty about sending his father nothing for Christmas. Being out west reminded him of the Christmas long ago, alone with his father, before his accident.
All of the soldiers had sparkling gold and silver pocket watches, and William wanted one desperately. His father had taken him hunting with the same old carbine he still carried, and they had gotten a big bird. It was probably John’s bullet that caught it, but he lied and insisted it was Willy’s. He hinted that William would get what he wanted for Christmas. Something made William turn spiteful. “All I want is Mother,” he had said.
His father got sicker and the watch never materialized. Later William realized that his father had traded it for opium.
William shoved the letter into his pocket and limped in his old, uneven and tattered shoes from home. His head burned in the sun. He found shelter in The Buckskin Saloon.
“Merry Christmas, Robinson,” William said and sat at the bar, sliding the five dollars towards the bartender. “This is some of what I owe you.”
The bartender gave him a once over. “Well, this is a holiday, if you’re payin.’ But it hardly covers the damage you done last night.”
“Damage?”
“Boyo, you really are soft in the head, ain’t you? I mean to say all the drinks you bought on credit—that’s the damage.”
“Credit?”
“Like always,” Robinson replied. “What will I get you now?”
“Now? Oh, just a ginger beer.”
The man raised his brows. “On the wagon?”
“Gosh, no. My stomach just pains me is all.”
“Gosh? Bill, if you didn’t amuse me, there’d be no fun. So when you sellin’ another picture so’s I can get some more spoondulicks from you? More than just a few dollars, I mean,” the bartender asked while passing him the small glass and nodding at another customer.
“Soon.”
Jay Haviland slapped William on the back. “Here’s just the man I wanted to see today. You were all horns and rattles last night. Is the girl sent back and all, do you know? Thought I saw the very same one with one of them high-falutin’ officers this morning. Boy howdy—it’s hot enough to wither a fence post, ain’t it?”
“Yes, it’s hot.” William finished his drink, remembering the first time he met Haviland.
WEARY OF RUNNING PREVIOUS EPISODE
Excerpted from WEARY OF RUNNING. Read more about Buck Crenshaw, his sister Thankful and William Weldon’s misadventures when you buy the book today!
“The second installment in The Tenafly Road Series definitely did not disappoint. With the introduction of new characters and the return of familiar ones, Weary of Running made for an exciting read. The protagonist, Thankful, is the real highlight of the novel. She consistently makes very poor decisions but in the end, you can understand why she has made every last one of them. The story ranges from love and romance to questions of faith and morality. It does all this without being preachy and explores many angles of different aspects of life. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.” Amazon Review
“Buck Crenshaw is my favorite dysfunctional lovable character.”
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Can Education Change The World? (or is it all in our heads?)
“I’ll keep having babies until they stop taking them away.”
Yes, that’s what a mentally challenged young woman told the social services workers outside family court. She’d lost five or six children to the system already. A talk on birth control would have made little difference.
I heard about this case from our foster daughter’s lawyer after I asked her if M could possibly get some baby pictures of herself that her mother “Tracy” used to have. The lawyer shook her head in sad disgust.
“I doubt Tracy would have kept the pictures. She’s never in one place for long, but when I see her at court next I’ll ask.”
“Court? Again?”
“Yes, she’s had two more kids in the last two years—both of them are already in the system,” the lawyer replied from behind the heaps of documents on her desk.
No one’s told M that not only does she have two sisters (adopted locally) and a stepbrother living with M’s scary father but also two new baby siblings—in the court system.
So I ask, “Is Tracy mentally deficient like the other woman you just told me about?”
The lawyer thinks a moment. “No, she’s just evil.”
I’m sort of shocked by her honest appraisal and inclusion of a moral take on the woman. Knowing M’s history I’d have to say the stuff that was done to her was evil.
What would phrenologists of the 19th century say? Phrenology is the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities.
Walt Whitman wrote in his 1870 sexual-eugenic essay Democratic Vistas that America’s youth lacked sexually. They were “puny, impudent, foppish, prematurely ripe, and characterized by an abnormal libidinousness and a diminished capacity for good motherhood.”
Whitman’s remedy: “crops of fine youth planted” to become America’s best breeders.*
As a gardener and foster parent of a girl with “delays” I’m troubled by the analogy. How are we to be rid of the weeds that grow among the fine youth?
To be pro-life is a radical idea in the history of the world where weeds, misfits and mistakes are gotten rid of. Slavery, body parts for sale, war and thousands of cast off orphans are the consequences of the human proclivity to get rid of weak and uncomfortable things.
How often do we hear now from “civilized” and “compassionate” people that this or that leader should be assassinated?
We hear of new procedures that may one day eradicate unacceptable or messy human misfits—a pipe dream at best but chilling when taking into account the many ways we find fault with each other.
George Combe, the Scottish phrenologist in his The Application of Phrenology to the Present and Prospective Conditions of the United States (1840) had this to say: The enlightened classes “raise the mental condition of the people . . . which will enable them to understand the moral and political principles on which the welfare of nations is founded.”
Combe predicted “an uncontrolled development of the faculties of Acquisitiveness (greed), Self-Esteem (excessive self-confidence), and Love of Approbation (vanity), in which could destroy the Union.” If something wasn’t done. *
We mustn’t judge the Victorians too harshly when we find that many embraced the idea of social and moral uplift through education and selective breeding. If we are honest we will see ourselves in the historical mirror.
Studying bumps on someone’s head may seem silly to us. Frat parties and pussy hats would probably have seemed “funny” to them. We judge our Victorian ancestors harshly for bringing “civilization” to “less civilized” people (but if we’re being honest not many of us want to live the Rousseau dream in a buggy forest with no air-conditioning (see the movie The Mission).
How much moral uplift has come from the public school system (or the Ivy League colleges—many of which were founded as Christian seminaries?).
How many less unwanted children have come into the world because of legal abortion?
Yes, I had to make the terrible choice to terminate a pregnancy (after seeing the baby’s perfect body on an ultrasound). My very flawed and very human doctor dismissed my concerns about a blood clot in my leg for weeks. A vascular surgeon saved my life at the very last minute, but the doctors refused me treatment until the baby was gone.
I hadn’t really wanted another child, but until this very day I suffer from a profound sense of loss. Funny how the heart works.
The 19th century perfectionist idea that we can, through science and education, bring heaven to earth was an illusion. It still is.
It’s easier to be rid of things, to divide the skull into seemingly rational sections that tell us our fate, to abort babies who have low IQs or the “gay gene.”
We must be careful in labeling someone we disagree with a fool or someone to be gotten rid of. We so rarely see the evil in ourselves and gladly kill the other for reminding us of our own weakness.
Judges 6:24 says: “The Lord is peace.”
What are we?
* From Pseudo-Science & Society in 19th Century America, Arthur Wrobel, Editor
** Pictures from VAUGHT’S PRACTICAL CHARACTER READER
In THE DEW THAT GOES EARLY AWAY Buck Crenshaw stumbles into a selective breeding program with mixed results.
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Utopia & Sex
JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES was a man of great vision–a deluded and selfish vision–yet one which inspired others to forsake their ordinary lives to join him in Christian communism.
Sharing looks good on paper.
Noyes was a magnetic man who believed in “healing energy.” He believed, like most 19th century perfectionist utopians, that the kingdom of heaven would be ushered in, not by trumpets and angels, but by good Christian men and women.
Noyes, in a dark night of the soul, convinced himself that he was to lead humanity (or at least a bunch of Americans) to this new heaven on earth. As their leader he would share his revelation (after marrying a dowdy but financially secure woman) that the first system of marriage illustrated throughout Genesis was now obsolete. Hadn’t Jesus told the SADDUCEES there were no marriages in heaven?
As above, so below was Noyes’ mantra. There were healings and possibly some good times. Mediocrity was seen as a special characteristic–one that kept people humble–even as Noyes’ enjoyed more and more power. By decreeing himself highly trained in love-making and instituting a “training program” by which young men were taught self control and the right way to sexually please women without getting them pregnant, Noyes’ embraced selective breeding and women’s rights.
What could possibly go wrong?
A friend of mine who grew up in a free love commune said it was a terribly unstable and lonely place for children. He noted the feel was more like a harem than anything heavenly. Dowdy women often footed the bills. Good-looking men were fought over.
I lived with a couple who believed in no special god. They believed only they created the universe. They believed in wind turbines and open, communistic marriages. These beliefs reflected in their real lives looked something like this: hatred for those who weren’t as highly educated and environmentally aware and an underlying aggression toward each other over sexual slights and unmet needs.
Noyes had magnetism. Women wanted to have sex with his magnetism. His wife had to be convinced his revelations were from God.
The community did make nice silverware.
Does free love work for anyone? I have only anecdotal evidence that it does not.
RELATED: VISIT JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES’ 19th CENTURY COMMUNE: SEX AS GOOD MEDICINE
ONEIDA SILVERWARE
READ ABOUT BUCK CRENSHAW’S ADVENTURES AT A 19th CENTURY COMMUNE
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Fiction: Taken By An Officer
Thankful meets Lieutenant Fahy.
A lamp flickered low in the window at headquarters. A soldier stood outside smoking.
“Land sakes, the soldiers I’ve seen so far are barely handsome at all,” Thankful whispered.
“What did you expect?”
“I suppose more like how I imagine your father when he was young—like you, sort of—well, when you were home—not now, I mean . . .”
The smoking soldier stepped forward from beneath the porch and the moon lit him.
“Lieutenant Fahy, is Captain Markham in, sir?” William asked.
Fahy stepped closer and bowed to Thankful. Her eyes lit up, and she giggled at the sight of him.
William’s stomach burned. “This is my cousin, Miss Crenshaw, sir.”
“Very pleased to meet you, Miss Crenshaw.”
“And you! You’re from Dublin, aren’t you?” Thankful asked.
The lieutenant grinned. “Why, yes, how did you guess? I’ve tried right hard to lose the sound of Ireland.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t! My father has a doctor friend from Dublin and he’s smart—not a shanty Irish type . . . my goodness I should just stop now, sir—I think your accent is charming.”
“Where have you hid this girl, Weldon?” Fahy asked.
“She’s run away from home and is going back to her father in the morning, sir. She’s very young . . .”
“I am not, Willy!”
Fahy took a drag from his pipe, his head tilted in amusement.
“I’m eighteen!” Thankful said, swishing her skirts slightly.
Fahy gave her the once over. “My sisters and brother and I came to America when we were young like yourself. You’ve got a great country here.”
“Oh, yes, of course it is,” Thankful said. “And how many sisters do you have, Mr. Fahy?”
“Just buckets of them and brothers, too. I’m a twin, in fact, but my brother joined the navy for a lark.”
“By golly, I’m a twin. How very coincidental.”
They laughed.
“Thankful, we need to talk to the captain,” William reminded her.
“Thankful? What an unusual name,” Fahy gushed.
“It sounds nice the way you say it, sir.”
“Come along now, COUSIN, I have to get back, you know,” William said, taking her arm.
Fahy sighed. “Bill Weldon, you should try to enjoy life a little.” He turned to Thankful. “Your cousin is a good fellow, but always so serious.”
Excerpted from WEARY OF RUNNING. Read more about Buck Crenshaw and his misadventures when you buy the book today!
“The second installment in The Tenafly Road Series definitely did not disappoint. With the introduction of new characters and the return of familiar ones, Weary of Running made for an exciting read. The protagonist, Thankful, is the real highlight of the novel. She consistently makes very poor decisions but in the end, you can understand why she has made every last one of them. The story ranges from love and romance to questions of faith and morality. It does all this without being preachy and explores many angles of different aspects of life. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.” Amazon Review
“Buck Crenshaw is my favorite dysfunctional lovable character.”
