Gardenia Duty by Kathleen Varn
Gardenia
Duty
by
Kathleen Varn
Genre:
Women's Historical Fiction
In
1957 jobs are scarce in rural Ashland, Alabama. Bobby Higgins is
facing life decisions; his family’s farm struggles and threat of
the draft hangs over 18-year-old males as the Cold War rumbles in the
distance. Bobby heads off to boot camp, vowing to provide for his
family from his pay. Between shore and sea duty, Bobby leaves broken
hearts in every port. When his own heart is stolen by Rose, he’s
shocked to learn that she comes with four daughters, a package deal
he’s unsure he wants. But when Rose disappears, Bobby finds her and
persuades her to marry him. Somehow they navigate their way through
the trials of marriage and parenting as he fulfills his patriotic
career and his promise to raise four willful daughters. In the spring
of 2004, his daughters are brought together by grief. They forge new
bonds, sharing their joys, losses, regrets, and ultimately family
secrets that will seal all their fates…if they can summon the
courage to report for duty.
Kat
Varn’s love
affair with words manifested when she turned four and taught herself
to read. As she grew older, books and reading were an escape from
responsibility. As the oldest daughter in a transient Navy
family, words fed her imagination to embrace adventure and magical
worlds. Kat was drawn to the strength of little girls in The
Little Princess and The
Secret Garden.
Eventually,
Kat dove into journaling between the pages of beautiful leather
notebooks, recording her children’s infant landmarks. Journaling
also helped her find solace in the grief of a toxic relationship.
Throughout her journey to extract her family from oppression, she
explored the idea of freedom through allegorical short stories. In
the midst of angst and soul searching, she retained a sense of humor
that gave her the resilience to pursue the search for her true self.
Kat
hopes her readers enjoy Ameera’s journey to pursue the forbidden
zone of dance while becoming part of a larger experience—embraced
and bonded to eight glittery belly dancers. Each of them aware they
may have never met without the common denominator of a six-week belly
dance class under the tutelage of their troupe director.
Kat
is now very happily married to her soulmate. She resides in
Charleston, South Carolina, where she worked for an adoption attorney
for twenty-three years. With her two children settled in adulthood,
she is exploring a beautiful world, from scuba diving in Fiji or
photographing from Alaska’s frozen tundra.
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I like the cover and the blurb. I Would love to read
ReplyDeleteI like the cover and love historical fiction reads. This sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI love historical fiction. Would love to read this.
ReplyDeleteAs the author, I try and weave the journey of the sisters through the transient lifestyle of the US Navy. Using nature vs. nurture and birth order gave me a wonderful opportunity to preserve some historical experiences in simpler times. I hope you read!
ReplyDeleteHoly crap! Thanks for the HUGE giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis definitely sounds like a book I would want to read. It looks engrossing
ReplyDeleteThe cover is perfect. The blurb really catches you. Congrats on your new book!!
ReplyDeleteThe cover looks wistful. This sounds like a good story.
ReplyDelete