I am once again drawn to another Historical Romance.
Willow Vale reads like a true story, but Alethea assures us it is not. In her words:
“There is a legend growing around my novel, Willow Vale. While I am flattered that readers think Willow Vale is a true story, the fact is that my fictional account of Francesca Sittoni’s adventures of coming to America is truly just that: fiction…”
Alethea takes you back in time. Back to the 1920’s.
Willow Vale follows the life of Francesca Sittoni. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she and her young daughter are forced to immigrate to America with her husband. They settle into a life of hardship in a coal mining town in Wyoming.
Frances, pregnant, is left to fend for herself and her young daughter when she loses her husband to a mining accident. Fear and desperation drive her to answer an ad from Kent Reed, a twice burned Wyoming rancher.
Amidst crowded quarters, these two grow to understand and respect each other, and maybe more.
Alethea has done her research. You can feel it in the richness of her detailed scenes, the familiarity they bring.
Here are some scenes that reached out to me:
“How she missed that sense of belonging to the land. Even though in the end Val di Non has failed to sustain her, she still loved the lush valley of her birth and wished she could find that love of place once again. That sense of belonging which she had yet to find in America.”
“If he had been a praying man, he never would have imagined that the answers to his prayers would be a pregnant Italian war survivor with a small child. It was all too strange, too unbelievable that after all they had endured, in France, Italy and then the raw new land of Wyoming in the United States, he and Francesca should both end up on his small ranch in Willow Vale. Strange…and wonderful…and terrifying.”
A superbly written tale of survival, of loss and of hope, Willow Vale is an easy, smooth read all the way to a most satisfying ending.
If you like reading about days gone by and romance with all its raw emotions, you really must read Willow Vale. My descriptions pale in comparison to Alethea’s writing. I really enjoyed the adventure.
4 STARS
From Alethea:
Western history has been the great interest of my adult life. I’ve lived in Wyoming, Colorado, and now Oregon. Although an amateur historian, I am happiest researching different times and places in the historical West. And while staying true to history, I try not to let the facts overwhelm my stories. Story always comes first in my novels, and plot arises from the relationships between my characters. I’m always open to your response to my writing. You can comment on Willow Vale or ask questions about me or my work at:
http://www.actuallyalethea.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/AletheaWilliams.author
I look forward to hearing from you.
Other books by Alethea Williams
First published as a monthly series of columns in the Green River Star, Green River, Wyoming, 1999 and 2000.
To purchase either of these books, just click on the cover images.