A Reader's Opinion: SARAH'S SECRET by Beverly Scott
A READER'S OPINION
Beverly Scott transports the reader to the late 1800s and the turn of the century in SARAH'S SECRET. Life as a pioneer was heavy with tribulations, deaths, disease, and struggles we can't imagine today. Ms. Scott gives the reader a glimpse into what life might have been like. It feels so real and true and even heartbreaking watching the characters overcome their hardships. A widow alone during a time made for men, Sarah had to be strong and she proved herself courageous. The research was very well done and I really felt like I was struggling with Sarah as she cared for her family and traveled dangerous territory. There are hints of a mystery but it didn't feel like a mystery. What keeps readers reading is wondering about Sarah's life and how she's going to make it through. SARAH'S SECRET is an engaging story from start to finish.
Rating: 4 Stars | Content Rating: PG | Reviewed by: Kathy Scott
BOOK SYNOPSIS
Follow the paths of Sarah and Will (or Sam) as they tell their stories of trust, secrets, and betrayal on the frontier 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 1878, Will is on the run after killing a man in a barroom gunfight. He escapes the Texas Rangers by joining a cattle drive as a cook headed to Dodge City. He struggles with the dilemma of saving his life or attempting to return to his pregnant wife and five children. Just when he thinks he might be able to return home, he is confronted by a bounty hunter who captures him and plans to return him to Fort Worth, Texas to be hanged.
Although Will changes his name to Sam, he remains an irresponsible, lonely and untrustworthy man on the dodge from the law who abandons the women he loves. He ultimately seeks redemption and marries Sarah.
In 1911, Sarah, a pioneer woman and widow with five children struggles to find the inner strength to overcome betrayal, loneliness, fears, and self-doubt. Her husband, Sam, thirty years her senior, died with a mysterious and defiant declaration, “I won’t answer!” Despite poverty and a crippling illness, she draws on her pioneer spirit to hold her family together and return to Nebraska to be near her parents and siblings.
When Sarah returns to Nebraska she receives staggering news which complicates her efforts to support her children. She is shocked, angry and emotionally devastated. Since she is attempting to establish herself in the community as a teacher, she believes she must keep her secret even from her own family. Will Sarah find forgiveness in her heart and the resolve to accept her new life alone?
Genre: Historical Fiction | Pub Date: December 14, 2016 | Page count: 306pp | Publisher: Word Project Press
Format Read: Paperback | Source: Provided by the author or publisher
