UNKNOWN

Beneficiary of her father's lands, livestock and gristmill, Catherine Rasmussen's otherwise secure life is greatly impaired by her marriage to Elias Jensen, so-called Doctor of Jurisprudence, political aspirant and known seducer. Only her sons keep Catherine on track. Her home, the mill and other outbuildings have been spared the devastation of Denmark's 1864 war with Prussia, but the conflict left Catherine emotionally shattered. A precious necklace and a few thousand pieces of gold in the vault behind a painting of the mill, represent Catherine's liquid assets but doubts over Denmark's future have the heiress to her father's gristmill business anxious.

Protesters throng the cobbled streets of Copenhagen demanding answers for Denmark's war with Prussia and reform of the country's archaic monarchical system of government. Free elections of a more representative body in the government had grudgingly been granted but the citizens want more. Adding spice to the boiling political stew, the human existence philosophies of Soren Kierkegaard shook the government's bedpartner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, (Denmark's state church), wide awake, and Catherine's eldest son, Peter a student protester is caught up in the fray. But of greater concern to Catherine is Peter's romance with a shop keepers' daughter, Maren Carlsen.

The implications of Peter and Maren's union include changing religions and immigration to of all places, the United States of America. itself a boiling cauldron of civil strife! All this has Catherine extremely despondent.

Is Peter's desire to leave Denmark his way of ending the conflict between himself and younger brother, Ferdinand? Or is it genuinely connected to his recent finding of peace and direction? Catherine doesn't know. Her own marriage is a disaster and many days the idea of divorcing Elias, selling her holdings and then traipsing all over the globe doesn't sound so illogical.

Two Runs of Stone is an epic in historical fiction set in the late 1800s

and is the result of twenty-five years of concerted effort. Actual journals of the women and men who lived and died during the era provide the foundation of the work, not to mention their Danish, English and American ancestors. Here's to great reading!

Steven Nielsen is devoted student of world history and U.S. history as well. His five-novel series, Two Runs of Stone, represents twelve solid years of research and writing with Victorian Europe, Scandinavia at large, and Denmark specifically as the backdrop. Mr. Nielsen is currently working on a novel he affectionately calls, The Wrath of Grapes, a modern-day U.S. historical satire with its setting in Houston, and Galveston Texas.Steve Nielsen spent thirty-five years with Guardian Life Insurance/Park Avenue Securities Companies and to beat Houston's horrendously snagged, rush-hour traffic he began work on his novels every morning between 5:30 and 6:00 and worked until 8:00 a.m. His Galleria offices were quiet in the wee hours of the morning, and that time is still Mr. Nielsen's most creative time of day. - To maintain mental clarity, and keep his body halfway fit, he swims laps, plays Pickle Ball and takes long walks as often as practical.Steven and his wife, Susan, are parents of five children and fifteen grandchildren. Houston, Texas had been their home for the past 55 years where Mr. Nielsen served in two bishoprics, as a youth leader, scout master, an early morning seminary teacher, and ward mission leader. Missionary work being his passion in life, his Danish roots plus pride in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provided the driving force behind the fifteen-year epic saga, titled, Two Runs of Stone.Steven now lives in a small farming community in northern Utah where the Four Seasons provide their wonderful uniqueness: where mountains rise in mighty majesty over a land which is lush in spring, hot in summer, colorful in fall and breath taking in winter. All in all, the scenery is magnificent: the topsoil deep, vegetable gardens, field grain, fruit and nut trees all grow abundantly; - and the author finally has more time to write.