After fleeing impending war in England, nineteen-year-old Abby Stapleton works to correct her stammer and to become a teacher in America, only to discover this conflict has no boundaries and that a rejected suitor is intent on destroying her name, fiancé, and fragile faith.Before we meet today's author, I want to announce that the winner of the free copy of Where I Was Planted, by Heather Norman Smith, is:
sarahtaylor601973@...
Congratulations! We'll get your book right out to you. I encourage readers to keep commenting and/or subscribe at right (above my list of books) in order to learn about new releases! U.S. subscribers are entered in the drawings a second time when they comment.
And now let's chat with novelist Pat Jeanne Davis, author of the historical inspirational romance novel, When Valleys Bloom Again (Elk Lake Publishing, Inc., February 2019).
Pat Jeanne Davis lives in Philadelphia with her British-born husband, John. They have two grown sons. She enjoys flower gardening, genealogy research and traveling with her husband.Pat has published essays, short stories and articles online and in print. She has a keen interest in twentieth-century American and British history, particularly the period of World War II. Pat’s father-in-law served in the British Eighth Army during the war. When Valleys Bloom Again is her debut historical romance set in that era.
She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and the Historical Novel Society. Pat loves to hear from her readers.
Please tell us one random thing we might not know about you.
I became a mom for the first time at age 46.
Wow, I know that has its blessings and challenges! I was 38 when my second child was born, and I could tell a real difference in my energy level from when I became a mom at 25. But I know the renewal your life no doubt underwent, as did mine, having a child a little later in life.
Please tell us a bit more about the plot of When Valleys Bloom Again.
As war approaches in 1939, Abby Stapleton’s safety is under threat. Her father, a British diplomat, insists she go back to America until the danger passes. Abby vows to return to her home in London—but where is home?With her family facing mortal danger so far away and feeling herself isolated, she finds it hard to pray or read the Bible. Did she leave God behind in war-torn London too? Abby becomes friendly with Jim, a gardener on her uncle’s estate.
Jim can’t get Abby out of his mind. Did she have a sweetheart in England? Was it foolish to think she’d consider him? He curses his poverty, and the disgrace of his father’s desertion and drunkenness haunts him. Can he learn to believe in love for a lifetime and to hope for a happy marriage?
Abby couldn’t know the war would last a long time, nor that she would fall in love with Jim—soon to be drafted by the U.S. Army—or that she’d have to confront Henri, a rejected suitor, determined by his lies to ruin her reputation and destroy her faith in God’s providence. Will she discover the true meaning of home and find happiness with Jim?
What is it about Abby that will make your readers care about her?
Abby has a lovely singing voice and attends the Royal Academy of Music. She also loves children and hopes to become a teacher. After she is uprooted from her home in England and sent to America, she works to overcome her speech impediment, attends a teachers college, graduates and then uses her skills in the war effort.
Let’s fantasize—your publisher is sending you to explore the history and setting for a new novel. Where are they sending you? Why there?
It’s 1913 and my publisher is sending me to Philadelphia. My assignment is to uncover the extensive corruption in local government where the same political party has been in power for decades.
What are you working on now?
A novel set in the Progressive Era, a time of social reform and the continued struggle for the right of women to vote. (A brief synopsis below).
In 1910, Marcella Whitney is sent abroad by her parents to be educated. Raymond, her intended in a prearranged marriage, agrees to wait until she returns from her studies. While studying in London, she takes up the cause of the suffrage movement, going against the social expectations of her family. Is working for social reform her Christian duty too? The absence from Ray gives Cella time to discover she doesn’t want to be a society wife.
On returning to Philadelphia, she learns Ray and her father are in negotiations with a client who intends to tear down the settlement house in which she is about to assume full responsibility and to erect a brewery in its place. When she stands against them and opposes a determined and vindictive brewery owner and a corrupt local government, her father threatens to disown her. Ray issues an ultimatum.
Will Cella’s commitment to social reform and in improving the lives of others forever separate her from her parents and ruin any chance of marriage?
Your various historical settings are so interesting. Makes me want to write more historical fiction! I love the choices you've made so far.
Where else can readers find you online?
Website: www.patjeannedavis.com, where you can subscribe to my newsletter.
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
BookBub
The book can be purchased online via the following button:
Finally, what question would you like to ask my readers?
If you could return to a bygone era, in what historical period would you like to live and what fascinates you about that time in history?
Thank you, Pat, for visiting and telling us about yourself and your novel. Readers, Pat has offered to give away a free copy of her book. To enter, leave a comment and your email below in answer to her question, above. "Please enter me" won't get you entered. Remember that U.S. subscribers are entered an additional time in each drawing. The drawing is done by email, so leave your email address, like so: trish[at]trishperry[dot]com.
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