Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine and the Arizona Territories 1906 by Nancy E. Turner

Product Details

Synopsis

Sarah's Quilt, the long-awaited sequel to These Is My Words, continues the dramatic story of Sarah Agnes Prine. Beloved by readers and book clubs from coast to coast, These Is My Words told the spellbinding story of an extraordinary pioneer woman and her struggle to make a home in the Arizona Territories. Now Sarah returns.

In 1906, the badlands of Southern Arizona Territory is a desolate place where a three-year drought has changed the landscape for all time. When Sarah's well goes dry and months pass with barely a trace of rain, Sarah feels herself losing her hold upon the land. Desperate, Sarah's mother hires a water witch, a peculiar desert wanderer named Lazrus who claims to know where to find water. As he schemes and stalls, he develops an attraction to Sarah that turns into a frightening infatuation.

And just when it seems that life couldn't get worse, Sarah learns that her brother and his family have been trapped in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. She and her father-in-law cannot even imagine the devastation that awaits them as they embark on a rescue mission to the stricken city.

Sarah is a pioneer of the truest spirit, courageous but gentle as she fights to save her family's home. But she never stops longing for the passion she once knew. Though her wealthy neighbor has asked her to wed, Sarah doesn't entirely trust him. And then Udell Hanna and his son come riding down the dusty road. . . .

Publishers Weekly

Turner (These Is My Words) resumes the fictionalized diary of her great-grandmother, Arizona frontierswoman Sarah Agnes Prine, four years later in this day-by-day account of seven months in which the indomitable, twice-widowed rancher faces drought, prairie fire, a stampede, a hanging and a proposal. Sarah fears losing her ranch: "I need money and I need rain. Both of them in good order and flowing over." Even help brings worry: Sarah's prosperous neighbor offers sympathy and marriage; sons Gilbert and Charlie return home, defying their mother's wish that they complete their education; Sarah's mother sells land to hire a water witch with spiritual gifts and frightening proclivities; visiting nephew Willie runs away with Sarah's savings. Sarah goes to San Francisco, where her brother has lost everything in the 1906 earthquake, and Gil and Charlie ride south in search of Willie. Not all the news is bad, though. A new neighbor proves a good friend and promises to be more, while his son champions Sarah through legal challenges to her land. Older, tougher, wiser, Sarah enchants with her plainspoken energy and honesty. The title may suggest a gentle tale of domestic comfort, but the book is as straightforward, gritty and persistent as the woman who inspires it and as memorable as the landscape where she carves out her life. Agent, John Ware. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Nancy E. Turner was born in Dallas, Texas, and currently lives with her husband, John, in Tucson, Arizona. She started college when her children were grown and completed a bachelor's degree in fine arts at the University of Arizona with a triple major in creative writing, music, and studio art. During the seven years it took to complete her degree, Turner wrote her first two novels, These Is My Words and The Water and the Blood. Sarah's Quilt is her sequel to the bestselling These Is My Words. Both novels are based on family stories about her own great-grandmother, who created the quilt shown on the cover.