What the reviewers had to say ...
Terrific!For anyone who enjoys American historical romance, Woman With a Past by Josh Lockwood is a “jim-dandy.” Set in the time of one of America’s early growing-pain stages, the novel unfolds along Clinton’s Ditch (Erie Canal) in the early 1800s. At that time people and cargo were transported 80% to 90% cheaper on the canal than overland. Consequently, the 363-mile canal became a bustling waterway with settlements all along its banks.Molly Ryan, after being released from the penitentiary after serving six years for a crime she didn’t commit, travels to the canal in search of her son who was only three years old when she went to prison.
Even though Molly’s life has been fraught with hardship, injustice, and degradation, she presses on with the determination to be admired. Josh Lockwood creates a heroine who is flawed but one who is such a survivor and so faithful to her mission that the reader vicariously feels her pain, emotional distress, anger, and fear as well as feeling the joys that fill her life.
Big, brawny, handsome Danny Brennan owns the barge on which Molly gets a job cooking. He is the quintessence of a hero, but he too has emotional baggage that makes him reluctant to give in to his true feelings for the spunky woman who hires on as cook.
Molly and Danny’s sexual encounters touch the senses and warm the emotions leaving a glowing satisfaction.
The secondary characters come alive as they interact with Molly, Danny, and each other. Even the antagonists vibrate with meanness, greed, and cruelty but they do get their “comeuppance” – poetic justice.
Josh Lockwood gives a glimpse of an important time and place in American history while it tells a poignant love story that emerges, as Irish emigrants become a solid part of America’s productive and prosperous population. GOOD READING!
Camellia, Long and Short Reviews
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