Kirjahaku

"The nuns use this as their measuring stick: who your people are. Well, what if you don't have no people? Or any you know of? What then? Are you doomed?" This is the nagging question of fifteen-year-old Nell's life. Born with a cleft palate and left a foundling on the doorstep of a convent, she yearns to know her mother, whose name, she knows, was Jane.When the Mother Superior tries to pawn her off to a mean looking farmer and his beaten down wife, Nell opts for the only alternative she can see: she runs away. A chance encounter with a dime novel exhorting the exploits of Calamity Jane, heroine of the west, gives Nell the purpose of her life: to find Calamity Jane, who Nell is convinced is her mother.Her quest takes her down rivers, up rivers and across the Badlands to Deadwood, South Dakota and introduces her to Soot, a big, lovable black dog, and Jeremy Chatterfield, a handsome young Englishman who isn't particular about how he makes his way, as long as he doesn't have to work for it. Together they trek across the country meeting characters as wonderful and bizarre as the adventure they seek, learning about themselves and the world along the way.You'll take Nell with you to that special place in your memory where you keep the best characters. She'll stick with you, beat you down, buoy you up and teach you a thing or two about life. You'll wonder at her stubborn determination, her patience and her courage, but you won't forget her. Not for a long time.

It is late 1864 and the Civil War is still raging even though the South teeters on the brink of defeat. Carter Willoughby, a circuit-riding minister looking for lodging appears at the home of Susannah Lander, a poverty-stricken Quaker woman who lives in South Central Pennsylvania with her maiden aunt. Carter's mission as a Confederate spy is to study and plan the destruction of the Horseshoe Curve, an engineering marvel that makes it possible for trains to scale the Allegheny escarpment. Putting the curve out of service would send notice that the Rebels can strike anywhere to disable the Union's vaunted transportation system. The people of the Great Cove, a prosperous farming community look upon Carter with suspicion, but Susannah rents to him anyway. She needs the money. Susannah hates slavery, despises the South and doesn't mind a good argument, so her sharp tongue and analytical mind combine to discourage any but a prickly relationship. So begins a connection no one would take for love, and yet... Carter, struggling with doubts about the Confederate cause, continues to put duty before doubt, pursues his goal and keeps up his disguise. Despite enduring suspicion and uncertainty, the unlikely couple slowly develop a strong attachment. Local suspicion and an unexplained death add to the tension, but finding a way to love your enemy takes them past the war and into a promising but uncertain future.