Synopsis
A contemporary novel set in the fictional small town of Benton, Nebraska, and in the halls of state government.
In Benton is a love story where main character Liz Daniels, with her three young children, moves from Minneapolis to Benton to escape a failed marriage and to live quietly. She soon discovers that no matter what her address, she still has to live.
Underlying themes are economic development, agriculture in crisis, and telecommuting to work.
In Benton is a love story as comfortable in the personal landscape as it is in the Nebraska landscape.
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About the Author
Mary Ridder has worked as a communications director and magazine editor. She currently is a freelance news reporter and owns a public relations firm based in her home office.
She often covers economic development stories including the importance -- both economic and social -- of small communities, family farms, and ranches.
Ridder and her family live on their purebred Hereford ranch in beautiful, pristine central Nebraska.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Scraping in the dirt was helping. Getting dirt under my fingernails and stains in my jeans was forcing my mind to get down to earth. Some people take over companies for that thrill. Others beat their opponents in court for that "I won and you lost" high. Forget the people and their cases. Justice? Lord, no. This is about winning.
But lately, I ve been digging in the dirt. My killer instinct is aimed at vanquishing those tormented portions of my brain and leaving everyone else to their own problems. Digging in soil is doing that for me. At the same time I m getting dirty on the outside, my insides seem to be getting a lot cleaner.
That s how I came to find myself in Benton, Nebraska. The basic facts read like one of my client sheets: Thirty-something female with three dependents, if you count Ben. Ben is very independent, but at nine he still qualifies on my tax returns. Then there is Jane, seven, and five-year-old Tess.
We live in the Midwest in a town of fifteen hundred people surrounded by several thousand cows, rural vistas, and peace. Peace and quiet. Just what the doctor would have ordered, and exactly where I had to go if I was going to make it.
Exactly what I m recovering from takes some untangling. Like Justin Melcher s kite in yesterday s sudden windstorm, I have some serious unraveling to do.
Oh, sure, I miss Minneapolis -- the rush of a high-powered job, my friends and family. And I miss my marriage, or the one I though I had.
But I like Benton. It s the antithesis of what I was living before. Here you know who gossips and who doesn t, who s a public servant and who self-serves, and you share that big family feeling on a Friday night at the football field.
Of course I know all this simplicity is misleading; all people are complicated, all places have their problems, all of us have our own journeys to navigate. But you could do worse than Benton. I felt that the minute the kids and I arrived in my friend Annie s hometown
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In Benton
Published by
Dageforde Publishing, Inc., 2002
ISBN 10: 1886225710
ISBN 13: 9781886225718
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Table of Contents, Omaha, NE, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Good. Author signed (signature only) on the title page. Trade paperback. First Printing. General wear to cover edges/corners. Content pages are clean and unmarked. 263 pages. Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 395276