Click on the banner above to follow the tour for Award Winning Novelist Bette Lee Crosby and her newest release Jubilee’s Journey!
Synopsis
When tragedy strikes a West Virginia coal mining family, two children start out on a trek that they hope will lead them to a new life. Before a day passes, the children are separated and the boy is caught up in a robbery not of his making. If his sister can find him, she may be able to save him. The problem is she’s only seven years old, and who’s going to believe a kid?
Jubilee’s Journey is Book Two in the Wyattsville Series. This story of discovering lost family and finding love reconnects readers with Ethan Allen and the other heart-warming characters of the bestselling novel SPARE CHANGE.
~~
Please enjoy this guest post from Bette
Writing Jubilee’s Journey was somewhat of a trip down memory lane, not because of my own memories, but the memories of my mother, who so generously passed them down to me.
My mom was born in Coal Fork, West Virginia; as was her sister Ruth. They were two in a family of eleven siblings. Times were hard and the family didn’t always have the luxury of living under the same roof. Once the girls were old enough, they were sent to live with relatives who needed house help; the boys went to work in the mines or became farm hands for neighbors.
When my mom was not yet twenty, she married a city boy from Charleston and moved away. Her sister Ruth married one of the men who worked in the mines. The part of Jubilee’s Journey that tells of life in the mining community is based on the truth of how it was.
After Ruth was married, she and her new husband moved into a tiny four room house wedged into the side of the coal-mining mountain. Did they own the house? No. Did they rent the house? No. In the little community of Coal Fork, there was no owning or renting; if a house stood empty and you had need of it…you simply moved in. Of course the house was little more than walls and a floor, there was no plumbing, no electricity, just a cast iron coal stove used for both cooking and heat. But it was a house and it was free. It had a stretch of land suitable for some farming and a well that had a plentiful supply of cold clear water – water far better than anything you’ve ever tasted.
In Jubilee’s Journey, Ruth’s husband is named Bartholomew but in real life his name was Clifford. He was a miner who lived a life very similar to Bartholomew’s. He and Ruth had four children, the eldest of which was my cousin Paul. And the Paul I knew was my model for the one I created. He was wise, strong, loyal beyond belief, and filled with love and Faith.
I spent many summer vacations visiting my cousins and the memories I have are truly treasured ones. Despite the fact that Ruth’s family had very few material possessions, they were wealthy beyond compare. They were rich in the things that no amount of money can buy—love, faith, trust and hope. Like Bartholomew, Clifford hoped his boys would never see the inside of a mine…and they didn’t. All four of my cousins earned scholarships and went on to become professionals in the fields of education and ministry.
I have always been inspired by the goodness in the life they led, and that inspiration is what led me to write Jubilee’s Journey. I hope the book inspires others as the truth behind this story has inspired me.
Bette Lee Crosby
~~
My Review
I’ve read many of Bette’s books, and some things I know I’ll find in each new one are her strong southern prose, compelling situations very true to life, and characters so vividly depicted they become living beings, and I step into their story.
Another thing I’ve come to expect is her endearing cover art. You feel when you look at them.
The cover design for Jubilee’s Journey was done by Kathleen Valentine of valentinedesign.com. Bette Lee will also occasionally incorporate a friend or fan’s name into her novels.
I fell in love with Ethan Allen in Spare Change and was thrilled to return to Wyattsville and have his story continue in Jubilee’s Journey.
He is doing fine. That is until one day, he stops at a crime scene, doing a lookie-loo to see what was going down. Sent on his way, as he pedals off he spies a little girl sitting all alone on a bench, looking so sad and lost.
I just knew Ethan would mull about that girl. So when he’s riding his bike home from school it’s no surprise when he stops to help the girl still sitting there on a bench. He convinces her to come home with him. His grandmother will take care of her.
Poor Olivia. Ethan brings home a stray. First thing she does is feed her. Then gently, she pries her story from her.
She’s Jubilee, 7 years old, and she came to the city with her brother after their father died. Paul was determined to keep his promise to their father and they get off the bus in Wyattsville searching for their aunt. All they have is her first name.
Paul told Jubilee to wait on the bench while he went inside to check out a job. Hours later, he still hadn’t returned and that’s when Ethan came into the picture.
I felt such anguish for Jubilee. She depended on her older brother, trusted him to take care of them, and now he was just gone. She’s such a sweetie. So innocent yet so firm in her love for her brother.
Paul is such a mature young man, and such a good brother to Jubilee. When he entered that store, he had no idea his path would converge with Hurt McAdams and he would find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and wouldn’t be leaving the way he went in.
Ethan is still Ethan. Always pushing the limit, and working his grandmother, Olivia. She’s wise to his ways but knows sometimes it’s best to let him think he’s got one over on her.
Ethan and Jubilee become very close with Ethan filling the role of big brother and protector until her real brother returns.
I’m not sure if you could label one genre for this book. Bette blends several into her story. I call it life literature. The characters tell me their stories, let me share their lives, and I savor every moment.
Upon reaching the end of Jubilee’s Journey, I blinked, held the book to my chest, and sighed. I slowly left their world. So moving, so powerful was this story, I tried to hang onto it, to keep everyone close.
Thank you for gifting me Jubilee’s Journey, Bette. There is no better gift than words on a page.
5 Stars
~~
A couple of excerpts from this journey.
Ethan:
I didn’t want to tell Grandma this on account of she’s a worrier. Mama never worried about nothin’, but Grandma, she worries about everything. The sorry truth is I didn’t see no live people come out of that grocery store. Far as I could tell, they was all dead.
Jubilee:
I ain’t never had six dresses at one time. And I sure ain’t never had underpants with the day of the week spelled out so you don’t get mixed up and wear Tuesday’s pants on Wednesday.
~~
ABOUT Bette Lee Crosby
Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.
Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, and the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal.
Her published novels to date are: Cracks in the Sidewalk (2009), Spare Change (2011), The Twelfth Child (2012), Cupid’s Christmas (2012) and What Matters Most (2013). She has also authored “Life in the Land of IS” a memoir of Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world’s longest living quadriplegic.
Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.
Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook
~~~~~
There are two giveaways so be sure you enter both!
Giveaway on my blog.
I have one print copy to giveaway (US Only)
and one Ebook copy (International)
To enter, please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win, specify US or International, and answer this question:
“Do you ever find yourself thinking about the characters long after you’ve finished a book?”
**
Visit Bette’s Blog HERE to enter the second giveaway.
~~
Other books by Bette Lee Crosby
**
My Review for What Matters Most
**
My Review of The Twelfth Child
**
My Review of Cracks in the Sidewalk~ Coming soon!
**
My Review of Cupid’s Christmas ~ Coming soon!
~~
Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!
To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!
