Isabel Huff

Though Madeleine Hopkins is a widow, she is a strong, independent woman. Her rural upbringing in the hippy age gave her an open minded view of the world. As an accomplished market vendor at the local farmers market in the small northern Idaho town of Testament. She shows her skill at bread making, gardening, cheese making and using all these products to cook and process her own down to earth diet, but she also shares by marketing her products in her weekly booth.Madeleine's practical hard working character is enhanced by the fact that she has dreams that come true, she sees pictures in her mind before events actually happen. Such was the incident of the car accident that took the life of her husband, Beal.When her son, Steven, brings her grand-daughter, Sage to stay for the summer, Madeleine soon becomes aware of something he isn't telling her. He is mysteriously secretive and emotional, and she is soon confronted with a girl who seems to be having emotional problems. Their plans for a peaceful summer on the farm are quickly altered when Sage's mother arrives on very short notice to pack the girl off to Africa, Steven's new job sight, and a location she, Anastasia, is excited to experience. That was the secret that Steven refused to divulge.With her grandmother's help, Sage soon researches online the African location that is to be her new home and is terribly upset with the sad conditions there. She fears for their safety from violence and disease. Ultimately she simply refuses to accompany her mother back home when Anastasia comes for her. They separate in tears all around, Madeleine is brokenhearted to see this dissension. Soon Steven and Anastasia are forced to admit that Sage is right on when they are informed that there may be kidnappings and raids near their intended home on a safari resort in the Kenyon bush country.So Sage is allowed to stay with Madeleine and they settle into a life busy with goat milking, egg gathering, and gardening. They fit in a spirited solstice party with kayaking on the river where they run into Nellie, and old friend of Madeleine's.Lee, a casual friend, invites them on a camp out in the mountains where they happily pick gallons of huckleberries. Sage, during this time pulls Madeleine out of her reclusive life style and succeeds in getting her to literally, let her hair down.That is when things began to get quirky. Former events; Sage being accosted on her way to the rural mailbox, finding a hidden bunker built on her property, a beautiful friendly collie showing up at her house, and the strangeness of friend Nellie; all come together to get Madeleine's dreams and premonitions working overtime. When Randy, the local Sheriff, investigates the illegal bunker on her mountain property, it becomes apparent that he has feelings for her she was unaware of. Then because the investigation finds guns and ammo hidden there, the ATF becomes involved.The mystery deepens, Anastasia and Steven return from Africa with a beautiful Kenyon girl they adopt.Sage becomes confident and strong while handling these challenges, and Madeleine decides her exile from society has been long enough. A great picture of life in a rural setting, a closeness with the natural world, and the sharing of strong emotions make this a contemporary story you won't soon forget.

As this subtle title suggests, in Courting Felicity, the reader is invited to read more into the action and romance offered in this historical novel by Isabel Huff, her second novel, than the first impression might offer. The preface of local history and historical photos circa 1914, affords the setting as the fiction story unrolls to an earlier time; steamships ply the Kootenai River, railroads are built and loggers, homesteaders and tycoon developers put down roots in this hospitable valley of far Northern Idaho. This setting is the author's home where she lives with her husband of 48 years in a log house built by the original homesteaders some 90 years ago; the house where he grew up. Retired cattle ranchers and farmers, they still garden, raise blueberries and maintain their home. The cover photo taken by the author is of the first cabin built on the homestead but now serves as a boat house for their kayaks. Isabel Huff's protagonist, Hank Phillips, is a God fearing young blacksmith with a deep love of the horses he oversees. He files on a one hundred sixty acre homestead of raw land and timber, and dreams of a big house and a fine cattle ranch, instead of living in the crowded bunk house at the lumber camp where he works. His elation is dashed almost immediately by a very unjust firing from his job and he is forced to live in a rude camp he quickly builds on his new land. But by hard-work and resourcefulness Hank soon acquires a new job, and friends and neighbors who respect him. He also gains the affections of a beautiful young school teacher, Felicity Logan, who he hopes will share his dreams. But a young bachelor of this stature doesn't go un-noticed, not by, Janey Cumberland, who's embrace of the west leaves Hank shaking his head. The author's colorful parade of characters include strong ambitious women, an unscrupulous imposter, a gutsy old teamster, a band of Kootenai Indians; who lived here first, and others who find shelter and promise in the Kootenai Valley . They make for a fun and memorable reading experience.