Sarah's Secret: A Western Tale of Betrayal and Forgiveness - Softcover

Beverly Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0997034920 ISBN 13: 9780997034929

Publisher: Word Project Press, 2016

Synopsis

Follow the paths of Sarah and Sam, the two key protagonists, as they tell their stories of trust, secrets, and betrayal in the old West. Their pioneer spirit helped to fuel the expansion into the Western territories of the United States. The two are historically on their separate journeys, yet they remain intimately connected. Through the fictionalized Western frontier tale of Sam and Sarah, the author, Beverly Scott, was inspired to reveal rumored secrets from her family history. In the 1880’s, Sam, who is irresponsible, lonely and untrustworthy has abandoned those he loves until he seeks redemption and marries Sarah. After Sam’s death in 1911, Sarah struggles to find the inner strength to overcome loneliness, poverty, and illness, to support her children. After a perilous journey by wagon from New Mexico to Nebraska, she learns of Sam’s betrayal. Will Sarah find forgiveness in her heart and the resolve to accept her new life alone?

About this title

About the Author

Bev specialized in serving executives and managers as a leadership coach and organizational consultant for over thirty-five years. She taught organization psychology and founded The 3rd Act, a program whose mission supports positive aging. As she grew into her own third act, she started a genealogical journey to uncover the details of her grandparents’ lives. She concluded that the story needed to be told as fiction using the known facts as her framework. Sarah’s Secret: A Western Tale of Betrayal and Forgiveness, Bev’s debut novel, is the culmination of her long-held desire tell the family story and confirm the whispered story about her grandfather. Bev previously focused on publishing non-fiction work, including the second edition of Consulting on the Inside: A Practical Guide for Internal Consultants, which she co-authored with Kim Barnes, was published in 2011. She has written numerous professional articles and contributed to 70 Things to Do When You Turn 70 edited by Ronnie Sellers and Mark Chimsky. Bev blogs on several sites, including her own, “The Writing Life” on www.bevscott.com Bev enjoys traveling, visiting with friends, reading and spending time with her grandsons. She lives with her spouse in San Francisco.

Review

"It opens in 1911 New Mexico, where Sarah's husband Sam is dying, leaving her alone to manage five children with no means of support, and evolves into a decision to leave the sandy, rattlesnake-infested world Sam has brought them to for a wagon journey back home to family roots in Nebraska. From skinning rabbits to finding safe crossings during the journey, Sarah faces quicksand bogs and many dangers as she tries to keep her family together. Scott could have kept the focus on Sarah's perspective and trials; but her book's second section focuses on Will, a "sod buster" who gains employment on a cattle drive as he searches for a way home, guilty about abandoning his children and wife even as he dodges the law and becomes involved with another woman. How these disparate lives come together makes for a Western story of struggle, redemption, betrayal, and family ties that winds its way through hearts and minds as deftly as it moves through early America's rugged landscape... (The story)goes well beyond well-researched history or leisure adventure to closely examine the far-reaching significance of individual lives. Readers of Western fiction who enjoy a solid blend of history and psychology, and who seek more than just a frontier flavor in their fiction, will find Sarah's Secret a revealing and absorbing read." -- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"What if your world was turned upside down because the person you loved and thought you knew kept a secret that could destroy you and your family? Sarah Martin is left confused by her husband's dying words, which in a state of delirium, seemed like he was having an argument with someone. Not thinking anything of it, she instead absorbs her mind with how she's going to raise five children on her own, with no income and in a town where a widow is not welcomed. Later on, when she applies for widow benefits, to support her children, she is denied. She recalls her husband's parting words and slowly peels back their life together for clues.
Scott imbues her main protagonist, Sarah Martin, with the enduring spirit of the American pioneer as she struggles to support her children. On top of wrestling with depression and grief from the loss of her husband and father, Sarah further struggles with anger and shame when the truth of why she will never receive her husband's pension is revealed. She manages against the odds by moving back to familiar territory and taking on the job of a teacher.
In addition to Scott's strong characterization, the author effortlessly transplants the reader in the turn of the 20th century of the American West through the eyes of Sarah Martin. It can be difficult to imagine living in a house without readily available water or electricity. A time when cars were a novelty for well-off people and travelers often relied on the hospitality of people for directions, food, drink, and shelter. Readers who want a glimpse into the life of a pioneer woman will take joy in Sarah's tale as they get a flavor for the hardships one takes on in a new territory." - Maria A. Hughes, The US Review of Books

Edition details

• Publisher: Word Project Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0997034920
• ISBN 13: 9780997034929
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1