Mix a Happy-go-lucky Bachelor with a Roaring 20s Woman and You Have: Elena, Woman of Courage

The “Roaring Twenties” was a time of great change, when women raised their hemlines and bobbed their hair. It was a time of adventure, courage, and independence.

In the 1920s, the new generation spoke a language that their parents didn’t understand. They had words like: Cat’s pajamas! Ah, horsefeathers! Attaboy! Baloney! You slay me! When referring to a woman, they used doll, tomato, and bearcat. When a person was in love, they were goofy. If a person was a fool, they were a sap. And when a woman wasn’t in the mood for romance, she would say, “The bank’s closed.” Elena, Woman of Courage: A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho (ISBN: 978-1-58982-545-1) is filled with courage, romance, and humor.

When a woman settles into a strict conservative town as the newest doctor, a slew of problems begin to rise. The town is not ready for a female doctor, let alone one so strong and independent. Elena Yeates, the town’s newest doctor, must struggle to prove herself in this western town, while keeping her composure, poise, and femininity. As she fights to prove herself, the town’s most eligible bachelor finds it a challenge to see if he can win her heart. With the 1920’s rise of women’s rights, this novel gives you great insight at the struggles women had to go through, all the while watching a young love blossom!

“Elena, Woman of Courage is a wonderful book full of history, passion and romance, as well as a touch of suspense and humor,” wrote Kim Atchue-Cusella, Book Loons. “The characters are matched perfectly and it is sweet to watch romance develop between John and Elena. This was the last of five books in the series and it has been a joy to watch the family grow and prosper.”

Elena is a courageous woman who went to college during a time when women were not encouraged to be educated beyond high school. The 1920s was a time of change when women began fighting for their rights. After getting her degree as a doctor, she moves to the West to set up her own practice. When she arrives in a small town in Idaho, she meets Mr. Anderson who opposes her from day one but Elena’s stubborn nature will not allow her to give up. In her fight for equality, she learns to love the people of Bear Lake Valley and realizes she has found a home at last.

When Elena meets John Roberts, a rugged and good-looking farmer, she does not trust his intentions. As she gets to know him, she finds that he has deep respect for the education of women and abhors prejudice. John is the son of Gilbert and Melinda, but there is one thing that stands in the way of happiness. He is terrified of marriage and commitment. He is known as the “Happy-go-lucky Bachelor.”

“Linda Weaver Clarke displays an easy and excellent style of writing, blending adventure/romance/history/humor and courage. A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho is an instant classic and should put this author on the literary map all over the world. A MUST read!”– Page One Literary Book Review

About the Author
Linda Weaver Clarke travels throughout the United States, teaching a “Family Legacy Workshop,” encouraging others to turn their family history and autobiography into a variety of interesting stories. Her novel “Melinda and the Wild West” was a Semi-Finalist in the “Reviewers Choice Awards 2007.” The historical fiction series, A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho will include the following novels: Melinda and the Wild West, Edith and the Mysterious Stranger, Jenny’s Dream, David and the Bear Lake Monster, and Elena, Woman of Courage.

Welcome to the World of Make Believe

Many times our every day lives can overwhelm us and we desperately need a break. Being a wife, homemaker, and mother can be a challenge and some days we feel discouraged. That’s the time when we would like to enter the world of Make-Believe. Perhaps after we do the dishes, change a diaper, and put our children down for a nap, we may have a couple hours to read a novel and slip into that make-believe world; a world of escape when our frustrations are high and we desperately need a break and a place to relax so we can be ready for the next go-around with our children.

In that little corner is a world that can fill us with wonder, where dreams can come true, where we can go on an intriguing adventure, or we can even fall in love all over again...reminding us of the first time we fell in love with our husbands. Lucy Montgomery said, “While solitude with dreams is glorious, solitude without them has few charms.” Jerome Kern expressed it differently. He wrote, “The game of just supposing is the sweetest game I know. Our dreams are more romantic than the world we see.”

Perhaps the world we see is full of dirty dishes, soiled diapers, teenagers arguing over an item that was recently borrowed, and busy husbands that forget to give us a kiss before they walk out the door. This can make a homemaker feel discouraged. Times like this are when we would like to enter the World of Make-Believe.

How many times have you wished to go on an adventure in the jungles of South America, follow Harry Potter into a magical world, or to fall in love all over again? We need to be reminded of that romantic love. Novels are a “god-send” and can give us that extra little “umph” that we need. They can also teach us and remind us where our priorities should be, reminding us to not take our relationships for granted.

My husband and I share the household duties because he knows that his help gives me more time to do the things I would like to do. Once my husband walked into the living room and collapsed on the sofa. His eyes looked weary and his body was tired. When I greeted him, I was tired as well. I had had a long day with the kids, I was pregnant, and the children had not been complete angels. But something happened between us that made me realize what kind of relationship we really had.

Our relatives were visiting when my husband wearily said, "Would you mind unlacing my shoelaces? I'm too tired to bend over."

I didn't mind, so I carefully sat on the floor and adjusted my protruding belly, and then undid his shoelaces. One of the relatives scoffed and said, "He can undo his own shoelaces. Don't you know about Women's Liberation? We're liberated from such demeaning tasks as this."

I just smiled patiently and said, "I do for him what he would do for me.” We give and take in our marriage. He cooks when I'm tired and I undo his shoelaces when he's tired. I believe relationships are founded on compromise and love.

Many times we can forget our priorities in life. In fact, some novels can help us remember our priorities when we are so dogged tired, wondering if we were destined to change diapers and clean house for the rest of our lives.

In my novel, “Melinda and the Wild West,” we can imagine how it feels when Gilbert gazes warmly at Melinda, admiring her integrity and studying her face, as if memorizing every contour of it. We can imagine how it feels when he impulsively lifts her chin and presses his warm lips to hers, making her heart swell within. When Gilbert cradles Melinda in his arms and gazes into her eyes with adoring love, think of the adoring love you have for the man you married and how your love is greater now than the first day of your marriage. Then all your frustrations leave as you sigh and close the novel, just waiting to pick it up when you have time the following day.

Just remember that “if the things we dream about don’t happen to be so, that’s just an unimportant technicality.” (Jerome Kern) The happy ending in the novels you read can happen if you only let it. Life is worth living and will become what we make of it. Just remember to pick up a novel and take some time for yourself and “Make-Believe.”