The Long and Short Of It
🔗 http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2009/05/daughter-of-wind-by-beth-trissel.html
Story Behind The Book
Not only have I lived in the Old Dominion for most of my life, but also several previous centuries in the sense that my family were among the earliest settlers of the Shenandoah Valley (1730’s/1740’s). My Scots-Irish forebears settled Augusta County in the southern valley with names like Houston, Patterson, Finley, Moffett and McLeod. These clannish people frequently intermarried, so I can tie in with many other early families depending on how I swing through the ancestral tree. Virginia is the site of the earliest successful English colony and rich in history. We’re steeped in it, especially in the Shenandoah Valley. How could I not be drawn to this wealth of stories? If the earth could speak what tales it would tell, some of them horrific; Virginia is also the site of more battles than any other state in the union, encompassing the Indian Wars, the Revolution and that most uncivil of wars, the Civil War. One account I came across in my studies of the early Scots-Irish influenced my writing more than any other, the tragic story of a captive woman who fell in love with the son of a chief. As the result of a treaty, she was taken from her warrior husband and forced back to her white family where she gave birth to a girl. Then the young woman’s husband did the unthinkable and left the tribe to go live among the whites, but such was their hatred of Indians that before he reached his beloved her brothers intercepted and killed him. Inconsolable and weak from the birth, she grieved herself to death. Heart wrenching, it haunts me to this day. And I wondered…was there some way those young lovers could have been spared such anguish; what happened to their infant daughter when she grew up? I couldn’t let this happen to my hero and heroine, but how could I spare them. I schemed and dreamed and hatched more stories in the fertile ground of Virginia. Light paranormal/historical romance Daughter of the Wind sprang from this account which also had a strong influence on my Native American historical romance Red Bird’s Song. Daughter of the Wind is set among the clannish Scots-Irish in the mist-shrouded Alleghenies, a tale of the clash between peoples and young lovers caught in the middle. Ever influenced by my regard for Eastern Woodland Indians, I interwove mystical, Native American elements with ‘Daughter.’
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Reviews
Beth Trissel's new book<strong><em> <a href="http://www.bethtrissel.com/DaughterOfTheWind.html">Daughter of the Wind</a></em></strong> is fabulous! From the moment you start reading you are transported back in time. You can see, smell and feel everything that is happening. She puts you right there, in the story. The characters are so real and alive, you feel as if you could reach out and touch them. (I'm already in love with Jack.) She is a very talented writer who weaves in the culture and languages of the Native Americans that lived then, and the Scot/Irish people who settled here. Beth also loves and knows a lot about herbs. That love does not go to waste as she adds it as just another layer for the senses in her deep, rich writing style. I do not have the words to describe how much I enjoy her books, so all I can say is... Don't just sit there reading this review! Go! Go get your copy now. You will NOT be disappointed.<br />~ Beth Liveringhouse<br /><br />"I loved the plot of this story, oh and the setting was wonderful. I just can’t believe how much detail the author went into without being boring about it. Ms. Trissel is great at creating believable and loveable characters. She’s also great at giving us a happily ever after…kind of a bittersweet ending…No, I can’t tell why, you’ll just have to read the book for yourself to figure that out."<br />~Reviewer: Ruby Lee, <a href="http://mistressbellareviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/daughter-of-wind-by-beth-trissel.html">Mistress Bella Reviews </a><br /><br /><strong>Voted Book of the Week by </strong><a href="http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/recentrev.htm"><strong>Long and Short Reviews</strong></a><br /><strong>Week of May 30-June 6<br /></strong>"Ms. Trissel’s alluring style of writing invites the reader into a world of fantasy and makes it so believable it is spellbinding.<br /><br />After reading <em>Daughter Of The Wind</em>, I will probably find myself listening when the wind howls around the eaves or whispers through the live oak leaves to discover whether it is voices I hear." ~ Reviewer Camellia at Long and Short Reviews<br /><strong><br /></strong>"I found this book fascinating. The descriptions of the settlement made it easy to imagine, and the characters were believable and well developed. The reaction of the McNeals to Jack’s war record – fighting for the wrong side – was exactly how I would expect a family, proud of their own service, to feel. The family’s attitude towards the Shawnee was also realistic for the period. Though Karin was presented as a well-bred, gently raised young woman, she demonstrated her strength of character when Jack was threatened. I can definitely recommend this book, especially for historical fiction fans and all true romantics. This is a great story, and I am looking forward to reading more from Beth Trissel." Reviewer Mary at Bitten by Books