BuckeyeAngel

Soon after dawn the young woman left Pilgrim’s Way and the Downs. But she got lost again. It was late afternoon by the time she came to the junction of five roads. The young woman took one of the unmade roads and saw a farmhouse in the distance- home- she was almost home. Then she realized she was being followed by a man she tried to run and fell.The young woman was so weary she didn’t try to get up  or cry out. She had reached her journey’s end.  Then the man takes his cap off. The young woman wonders if it is an angel. He offered to help then picks her up and starts toward the farmhouse then he yells to his mother they had a visitor.  The woman introduced herself as Jessie Mason. Then Jessie said the man who helped her was Jessie's youngest son Danny.  The young woman said her name was Kit then said Kathleen The woman was going to clean Kathleen up and put salve on and bandage her feet.  When Jessie removed the young woman's long skirt her legs were bruised as were her arms  as if someone had restrained her. There were also raised red welts on Kathleen’s back. Jessie also knew Kathleen was very pregnant Jessie’s daughter Mary had died about this young woman's age but now she had another young woman to look after and maybe she would stay. Kathleen was now in England. A vet had come to look at the animals. But they asked him to look at Kathleen as he had once been a human doctor before he had ran from his country and ended up in England, the man was Jewish. The doctor said Kathleen was between seventeen and eighteen. The doctor felt Kathleen was eight months pregnant. Also Kathleen had suffered blows to her head and they seemed to have affected her memory. Kathleen found a pile of clothes on the chair that Jessie had left her- that had been Mary’s. Also there was some baby clothes as Mary had a late miscarriage when Mary was about six years old. Then Kathleen went to the bundle she had been carrying and looked through it. There was: a framed picture of Kathleen’s parents, a prayer book, a rosary, her birth certificate and her parents marriage certificate in a brown envelope. She also found her mother’s wedding ring from her first marriage on a silver chain. A small package of love letters with a red silk rose, the letters had been written by her father when her parents were courting.Then  there was a ragdoll Kathleen had dearly loved when she was a child. Last there was a leather pouch with her mother’s brush and comb. When Jessie asked Kathleen about her parents, Kathleen teared up so Jessie dropped the subject and helped Kathleen downstairs. Jessie offered to let Kathleen stay until after the baby was born if not longer. Then Kathleen went into labor and clung to Danny. Kathleen had a baby girl and named her Heather Mary- after her mom and Jessie’s daughter. Danny told the midwife he was the father but Danny already had Marion and they had grown up together and the last year they had been talking of a future together. Danny and Sam are both attracted to Kathleen.

I enjoyed this book a lot. . I loved how Jessie took in a stranger who had been misused and was pregnant and couldn’t remember a lot. I was glad when Marion and Danny married as they had already talked about it. I also loved how Jessie considered Heather her grandchild right away and continued to let Kathleen stay. This was very realistic of the time as far as I am concerned. It drag for me at times. But this was a very good historical novel. I did like the plot also. I liked the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend.