Alishia Constance Marie Morris was born to an immigrant family coming from France to marvel in the wealth of the New World. Her young life was full of happy childhood experiences until the night of her fifth birthday. On that night, the fragile hope of youth was shattered when her parents abandoned Alishia. But Alishia emerged from the fragments of her youth to find a new life. Dimetre LaGuerre, a wealthy land owner, took her in. He raised her to be an educated and self-reliant woman. Dimetre also showered her with enough love to overcome the pain of her youth. With his love and understanding, Alishia was able to conquer even the most difficult of situations. His love allowed her to see a brighter future. His love was the only sight she had. Alishia Constance Marie Morris was born blind. But was Dimetre’s fatherly love enough for her heart?
When I reached the field that the hands were currently working in, I stopped to rest. I stopped for a moment to take in my surroundings before continuing. Sweat poured down my body as the sun started to set behind the trees. The cornfields of the western acreage were almost harvested. Birds sang a beautiful song in the swaying trees around the fields. A taste of freshly turned soil flowed through the air on imaginary waves. My horse felt strong and proud as I rode out with the cart. In the spicy scents, a definite odor of fallen leaves dominated the world in general. This was my private paradise.
Jessie, a farm hand, grabbed the reins of the horse as I jumped to the ground. Jessie handed me the long tree branch that I used as a walking stick. I started towards the cut corn. When I turned away from Jessie, Zachary started to come toward me. Jessie laughed as Zachary tripped in a hole that I had cautiously avoided. A loud crack echoed throughout the field as Zachary, cursing, tried to get back up. I reached Zachary first, but I heard other footsteps coming towards us. I felt along his left leg and then along his right. When I took my hand away it was sticky with blood. I could tell by the placement of his right leg that the bone was broken. I wrapped his leg with my saddle blanket and secured it with my belt. Then I placed my walking stick along side his leg and secured it with the straps from my work trousers.
Jessie reached us first. His breath was coming out in ragged bursts as I pushed him down onto a stump to rest. Zachary was still cursing as the other farm hands reached us and picked him up.
I spoke to the nearest hand. “Quickly empty one of the one-horse carts. The corn will sit for a while. Then hitch the cart to my horse. Someone needs to go to town for the doctor.”
Jessie spoke, “I have my horse, I’ll go to the house and let Dimetre know what happened. Then, I’ll go to town for the doctor.”
I felt a cool breeze come from the North. “It’s going to be a cold night. Everyone else, find something to protect the corn and ride back when the field is set. We’re done for tonight.”
The others quickly emptied the cart so that they could place Zachary in the cart. Accepting the arm of one of Jessie’s brothers, I re-mounted my mare and started slowly towards the house. The men left in the field covered the harvested corn for the night and started back to the house after me. The bumps on the well-traveled path hurt Zachary more than he would admit, but I heard the groans as we rode back. Dimetre, Jessie, and the town doctor were shouting for me to stop at the porch. Slowly I brought the horse to a stop in front of the steps. The shouts of the men returning from the field grew louder as the doctor pulled down the back of the cart. Jessie grabbed me by the waist and put me gently on the porch swing.
Very good book! Loved every page from beginning to end and constantly get hooked right back into it any time I read a portion of it. It doesn't matter how many times I read it, it never gets boring! I constantly find new things in it and have new thoughts on the characters and who they really are. I get hooked in very few authors but I'll be eternally hooked on this one!
Too Many Tears is a captivating story. It is well written and a page-turner from the very beginning. Set during the early 1600's, it is a touching story of a little girl abandoned by her parents in the colonies.
At the age of 5, Alisha finds herself not only blind, but also left alone. She embarks on her own journey for survival. She meets a kind gentleman, Dimetre. He takes her into his life and home and provides for her. Life is not easy in the early colonies, but add blindness and abandonment to the mix and it provides a heart wrenching story. I enjoyed the well-created characters that worked their way into my heart.
I would recommend this book for readers looking for a creative new take on early American life. I hated to see this book come to an end; I would have liked to follow Alisha and Dimetre's life for a while longer.
(Reviewed by Kathy Bosworth for Denise's Pieces Book Reviews)
Encountering danger, romance, heartache and tragedy, Catherine Merit strives to fit into a world filled with prejudice, hatred and violence where she is forced to kill a man in order to save herself. Third book of the Indignities Series.
Ireland 1967. The Summer of love. Or was it?
A holiday weekend. Amazing weather. American student Dakota Lacey is hiking around Kerry.
But there’s a sinister, dark side to the atmosphere. Lone female hikers are being brutally attacked.
Fourth Book in the Southern Swallow Series finds the Academician Li K'ai-men in exile on Hai-nan Island. China has a new invasion threat. A showdown between ingenuity and technology explodes as the Sung Dynasty tries to preserve itself.
