Looking for Jane
Publication Date: December 21, 2012
Fox Hollow Press
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 238
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
“The nuns use this as their measuring stick: who your people are. Well, what if you don’t have no people? Or any you know of? What then? Are you doomed?” This is the nagging question of fifteen-year-old Nell’s life. Born with a cleft palate and left a foundling on the doorstep of a convent, she yearns to know her mother, whose name, she knows, was Jane.
When the Mother Superior tries to pawn her off to a mean looking farmer and his beaten down wife, Nell opts for the only alternative she can see: she runs away. A chance encounter with a dime novel exhorting the exploits of Calamity Jane, heroine of the west, gives Nell the purpose of her life: to find Calamity Jane, who Nell is convinced is her mother.
Her quest takes her down rivers, up rivers and across the Badlands to Deadwood, South Dakota and introduces her to Soot, a big, lovable black dog, and Jeremy Chatterfield, a handsome young Englishman who isn't particular about how he makes his way, as long as he doesn't have to work for it. Together they trek across the country meeting characters as wonderful and bizarre as the adventure they seek, learning about themselves and the world along the way.
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Review:
Nell was dropped at a convent in rural Pennsylvania when she was a baby. With a cleft palate and no knowledge of where she came from, except that her mother's name is Jane, Nell grows up ridiculed was believed to be developmentally disabled. When the Mother Superior tries to sell Nell to a mean farmer and his wife, Nell takes the opportunity to run away. With no real plans and no where to go, Nell procures a boat and proceeds to travel up and down rivers trying to find her way. She soon picks up handsome Britishman, Jeremy as well as a lovable river dog, Soot . Jeremy makes his way through life as a thief, but has grown attached to Nell and doesn't seem to mind her different looks and strange voice. As they travel, Nell reads the story of Calamity Jane. Once she hears that Jane is real, Nell is convinced that Calamity Jane is her mother and is given a reason for her quest as well as a destination, Deadwood South Dakota.
Set throughout the US in the 1800's, Nell's adventures showcase American history at the time. Nell is a lovable character, she is assumed to be disabled because of her cleft palate, but is very bright. She has taught herself how to read and has a good sense of what people to trust. When she finds Jeremy, they form a heartwarming and protective bond; though Nell sometimes wishes that there was more. Very reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn, Nell's adventures up and down the Mississippi introduce Nell to a variety of spectacles and people. From tent revivals and snake oil salesmen to Quakers and an understanding Doctor who helps Nell with her palate and teeth, Nell sees the best and worst of what the world has to offer. While Nell's quest to find Calamity Jane and her belief that she is indeed her mother seems fanciful, Nell's intuition always seems to be spot on that I begun to believe it myself. Overall, this was a fun adventure with some great characters and a different kind of happy ending.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Publication Date: December 21, 2012
Fox Hollow Press
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 238
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
“The nuns use this as their measuring stick: who your people are. Well, what if you don’t have no people? Or any you know of? What then? Are you doomed?” This is the nagging question of fifteen-year-old Nell’s life. Born with a cleft palate and left a foundling on the doorstep of a convent, she yearns to know her mother, whose name, she knows, was Jane.
When the Mother Superior tries to pawn her off to a mean looking farmer and his beaten down wife, Nell opts for the only alternative she can see: she runs away. A chance encounter with a dime novel exhorting the exploits of Calamity Jane, heroine of the west, gives Nell the purpose of her life: to find Calamity Jane, who Nell is convinced is her mother.
Her quest takes her down rivers, up rivers and across the Badlands to Deadwood, South Dakota and introduces her to Soot, a big, lovable black dog, and Jeremy Chatterfield, a handsome young Englishman who isn't particular about how he makes his way, as long as he doesn't have to work for it. Together they trek across the country meeting characters as wonderful and bizarre as the adventure they seek, learning about themselves and the world along the way.
Buy Looking for Jane
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Review:
Nell was dropped at a convent in rural Pennsylvania when she was a baby. With a cleft palate and no knowledge of where she came from, except that her mother's name is Jane, Nell grows up ridiculed was believed to be developmentally disabled. When the Mother Superior tries to sell Nell to a mean farmer and his wife, Nell takes the opportunity to run away. With no real plans and no where to go, Nell procures a boat and proceeds to travel up and down rivers trying to find her way. She soon picks up handsome Britishman, Jeremy as well as a lovable river dog, Soot . Jeremy makes his way through life as a thief, but has grown attached to Nell and doesn't seem to mind her different looks and strange voice. As they travel, Nell reads the story of Calamity Jane. Once she hears that Jane is real, Nell is convinced that Calamity Jane is her mother and is given a reason for her quest as well as a destination, Deadwood South Dakota.
Set throughout the US in the 1800's, Nell's adventures showcase American history at the time. Nell is a lovable character, she is assumed to be disabled because of her cleft palate, but is very bright. She has taught herself how to read and has a good sense of what people to trust. When she finds Jeremy, they form a heartwarming and protective bond; though Nell sometimes wishes that there was more. Very reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn, Nell's adventures up and down the Mississippi introduce Nell to a variety of spectacles and people. From tent revivals and snake oil salesmen to Quakers and an understanding Doctor who helps Nell with her palate and teeth, Nell sees the best and worst of what the world has to offer. While Nell's quest to find Calamity Jane and her belief that she is indeed her mother seems fanciful, Nell's intuition always seems to be spot on that I begun to believe it myself. Overall, this was a fun adventure with some great characters and a different kind of happy ending.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Check Out Judith Redline Coopey's Other Books:
The Furnace (Juniata Iron Trilogy, #1)
Publication Date: October 1, 2014
Fox Hollow Press
*Formats: eBook & Paperback
Pages: 336
Series: Volume One, Juniata Iron Trilogy
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
Elinor Bratton, young, beautiful, and privileged is pregnant and cast aside by her lover, the wealthy and spoiled scion of a eastern Pennsylvania family. As a result she is forced by her father into an arranged marriage to a man she barely knows. Adam MacPhail, a common iron worker whose only wish is to become an iron master agrees to the match as a means of realizing his dream. Ellie’s father, Stephen Bratton, well to do, well connected and determined to save his daughter’s reputation, orchestrates the union — not as Ellie would have it, but as he sees fit. So begins a marriage in a time when a woman had no voice, no rights, no say in matters directly pertaining to her. Ellie, exiled to the wilderness of western Pennsylvania with a man she would not have considered three months before, declares her intention to make Adam’s life miserable and make her father pay for his high-handed disregard for her rights. Adam, unschooled in dealing with women, chooses to focus his energy and attention on turning a down and out iron furnace into a profitable, well-ordered producer. Through the first half of the nineteenth century, the couple struggle to establish a life, disentangle an ill-conceived marriage, and make a success of a derelict furnace through the ups and downs of an unpredictable industry. Volume One of The Juniata Iron Trilogy, The Furnace chronicles Ellie and Adam’s efforts to find a balance and build an enterprise worthy of Pennsylvania’s iron industry, producing Juniata Iron, the finest in the world.
Buy The Furnace
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
The Furnace (Juniata Iron Trilogy, #1)
Publication Date: October 1, 2014
Fox Hollow Press
*Formats: eBook & Paperback
Pages: 336
Series: Volume One, Juniata Iron Trilogy
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
Elinor Bratton, young, beautiful, and privileged is pregnant and cast aside by her lover, the wealthy and spoiled scion of a eastern Pennsylvania family. As a result she is forced by her father into an arranged marriage to a man she barely knows. Adam MacPhail, a common iron worker whose only wish is to become an iron master agrees to the match as a means of realizing his dream. Ellie’s father, Stephen Bratton, well to do, well connected and determined to save his daughter’s reputation, orchestrates the union — not as Ellie would have it, but as he sees fit. So begins a marriage in a time when a woman had no voice, no rights, no say in matters directly pertaining to her. Ellie, exiled to the wilderness of western Pennsylvania with a man she would not have considered three months before, declares her intention to make Adam’s life miserable and make her father pay for his high-handed disregard for her rights. Adam, unschooled in dealing with women, chooses to focus his energy and attention on turning a down and out iron furnace into a profitable, well-ordered producer. Through the first half of the nineteenth century, the couple struggle to establish a life, disentangle an ill-conceived marriage, and make a success of a derelict furnace through the ups and downs of an unpredictable industry. Volume One of The Juniata Iron Trilogy, The Furnace chronicles Ellie and Adam’s efforts to find a balance and build an enterprise worthy of Pennsylvania’s iron industry, producing Juniata Iron, the finest in the world.
Buy The Furnace
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Waterproof: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Fox Hollow Press
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 266
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
Fifty years after an earthen dam broke and sent a thirty foot wall of raging destruction down on the city of Johnstown, PA, Pamela McRae looks back on the tragedy with new perspective.
When the flood hit, it wiped out Pam’s fondest hopes, taking her fiancé and her brother’s lives and her mother’s sanity, and within a year her father walked away, leaving his daughter
—now the sole support of her mother—to cope with poverty and loneliness.
The arrival of Katya, a poor Hungarian girl running away from an arranged marriage, finally gives Pam the chance she needs to get back into the world; Katya can care for her mother, and Pam can go to work for the Johnstown Clarion as a society reporter.
Then Davy Hughes, Pam’s fiancé before the flood, reappears and, instead of being the answer to her prayers, further complicates her life. Someone is seeking revenge on the owners of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the Pittsburgh millionaires who owned the failed dam, and Pam is afraid Davy has something to do with it.
Buy Waterproof
Amazon
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Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Fox Hollow Press
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 266
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
Fifty years after an earthen dam broke and sent a thirty foot wall of raging destruction down on the city of Johnstown, PA, Pamela McRae looks back on the tragedy with new perspective.
When the flood hit, it wiped out Pam’s fondest hopes, taking her fiancé and her brother’s lives and her mother’s sanity, and within a year her father walked away, leaving his daughter
—now the sole support of her mother—to cope with poverty and loneliness.
The arrival of Katya, a poor Hungarian girl running away from an arranged marriage, finally gives Pam the chance she needs to get back into the world; Katya can care for her mother, and Pam can go to work for the Johnstown Clarion as a society reporter.
Then Davy Hughes, Pam’s fiancé before the flood, reappears and, instead of being the answer to her prayers, further complicates her life. Someone is seeking revenge on the owners of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the Pittsburgh millionaires who owned the failed dam, and Pam is afraid Davy has something to do with it.
Buy Waterproof
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Redfield Farm: A Novel of the Underground Railroad
Publication Date: April 2, 2010
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 280
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
Ann Redfield is destined to follow her brother Jesse through life – two years behind him – all the way. Jesse is a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and Ann follows him there as well.
Quakers filled with a conviction as hard as Pennsylvania limestone that slavery is an abomination to be resisted with any means available, the Redfield brother and sister lie, sneak, masquerade and defy their way past would-be enforcers of the hated Fugitive Slave Law.
Their activities inevitably lead to complicated relationships when Jesse returns from a run with a deadly fever, accompanied by a fugitive, Josiah, who is also sick and close to death. Ann nurses both back to health. But precious time is lost, and Josiah, too weak for winter travel, stays on at Redfield Farm. Ann becomes his teacher, friend and confidant. When grave disappointment disrupts her life, Ann turns to Josiah for comfort, and comfort leads to intimacy. The result, both poignant and inspiring, leads to a life long devotion to one another and their cause.
Buy Redfield Farm
Amazon
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Publication Date: April 2, 2010
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 280
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
Ann Redfield is destined to follow her brother Jesse through life – two years behind him – all the way. Jesse is a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and Ann follows him there as well.
Quakers filled with a conviction as hard as Pennsylvania limestone that slavery is an abomination to be resisted with any means available, the Redfield brother and sister lie, sneak, masquerade and defy their way past would-be enforcers of the hated Fugitive Slave Law.
Their activities inevitably lead to complicated relationships when Jesse returns from a run with a deadly fever, accompanied by a fugitive, Josiah, who is also sick and close to death. Ann nurses both back to health. But precious time is lost, and Josiah, too weak for winter travel, stays on at Redfield Farm. Ann becomes his teacher, friend and confidant. When grave disappointment disrupts her life, Ann turns to Josiah for comfort, and comfort leads to intimacy. The result, both poignant and inspiring, leads to a life long devotion to one another and their cause.
Buy Redfield Farm
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Judith Redline Coopey, born in Altoona, PA holds degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University. A passion for history inherited from her father drives her writing and a love for Pennsylvania sustains it. Her first book, Redfield Farm was the story of the Underground Railroad in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The second, Waterproof, tells how the 1889 Johnstown Flood nearly destroyed a whole city and one young woman’s life. Looking For Jane is a quest for love and family in the 1890s brought to life through the eyes of Nell, a young girl convinced that Calamity Jane is her mother. Her most recent work, The Furnace: Volume One of the Juniata Iron Trilogy, is set on an iron plantation near where she grew up and tells the story of an ill conceived marriage of convenience as it plays out over a lifetime. As a teacher, writer and student of history, Ms Coopey finds her inspiration in the rich history of her native state and in stories of the lives of those who have gone before.
For more information please visit Judith Redline Coopey’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Judith Redline Coopey, born in Altoona, PA holds degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University. A passion for history inherited from her father drives her writing and a love for Pennsylvania sustains it. Her first book, Redfield Farm was the story of the Underground Railroad in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The second, Waterproof, tells how the 1889 Johnstown Flood nearly destroyed a whole city and one young woman’s life. Looking For Jane is a quest for love and family in the 1890s brought to life through the eyes of Nell, a young girl convinced that Calamity Jane is her mother. Her most recent work, The Furnace: Volume One of the Juniata Iron Trilogy, is set on an iron plantation near where she grew up and tells the story of an ill conceived marriage of convenience as it plays out over a lifetime. As a teacher, writer and student of history, Ms Coopey finds her inspiration in the rich history of her native state and in stories of the lives of those who have gone before.
For more information please visit Judith Redline Coopey’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
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