About
Jim Bailey retired from awell-paying tenured position at a major University at the young age of 57 topursue challenges which would hold his interest, including woodworking, missionarywork, historical research, and novel writing. Since he was trained as amanufacturing engineer, Jim loves to design things and then figure out how tomake them; the same thinking applies to his historical romance writing - havingquestions and seeking answers.
Jim loves historical events andhow they affect people's decisions - focusing, of course, on those made by theancestors of whom he writes. Jim has alot of questions about family behavior and actions that have been answeredthrough what he has found in his research. He then weaves the story by filling in the gaps with creative,imaginative fictional spins on what might have been.
Bailey's passion is to write thenovels that tell these historic stories - having completed Bailey'sBlood aboutthe feuding family from Missouri and Honor O'Flynn about his seventh-great grandmotherkidnapped in 1700 Irelandand brought to Marylandto be sold as a bride. He is deep into writing about Anneliese Kapahnke, his wife's mother, who was a single mother in Berlin as bombsdestroyed nearly all of that city. Jim is also passionate to write about Sambath Loy , his adopted Cambodian daughter - who ateight years of age was taken by the Khmer-Rouge with two younger siblings to are-education and forced labor camp.
Description
<p><span style="color:rgb(15,17,17);font-family:'Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">What happens when a king loses his prowess? The day Henry IV could finally declare he had vanquished his enemies, he threw it all away with an infamous deed. No English king had executed an archbishop before. And divine judgment was quick to follow. Many thought he was struck with leprosy—God's greatest punishment for sinners. From that point on, Henry's health was cursed and he fought doggedly on as his body continued to betray him—reducing this once great warrior to an invalid. Fortunately for England, his heir was ready and eager to take over. But Henry wasn't willing to relinquish what he had worked so hard to preserve. No one was going to take away his royal prerogative—not even Prince Hal. But Henry didn't count on Hal's dauntless nature, which threatened to tear the royal family apart.</span></p>
Story Behind The Book
Honor O'Flynn, A Search for the True Will of God is James Bailey's answer to a burning question that would not lie quiet in his heart.
Why was his seventh-great grandmother kidnapped in 1700 Ireland and brought to Maryland to be sold as a bride?
The British crown has banned Catholicism in all of Britain leaving many of its people eager for revolution, rival nations are colonizing the New World, threatening England’s standing as a world power, and the population in Britain is putting stress on the food supply. To remain unified and strong, the crown needed a way to neutralize dissident Catholics and move a great many of its people to North America. Marylam]nds economy was based on Cotton, a valuable but labor intensive crop.
In Maryland, the male to female ratio was ten to one and the men there wanted wives and families. That made it lucrative for merchant captains to kidnap young men and women and bring them to the Colonies... hence, the kidnapping of Honor O'Flynn and the historical fiction the author wrote to share her story with the world.
Reviews
<p class="JAMBNORMAL">It's my privilege to have read the first novel, Bailey's Blood, and to have called Jim Bailey a friend. I was his pastor and he shared with me the vision and some of the stories he has compiled and to be sure they are the stuff from which great spell-binding novels in nature come. I've also read some of this new novel and it, too, has the quality of greatness. Thanks Jim for continuing to use your God given talents productively.</p>
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<p class="JAMBNORMAL">~ <em>Dr Robert Orr</em>, Vice President, Academic Development at CaliforniaStateChristianUniversity</p>
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