Ruth Rodgers of Titusville has a new novel out from August Press. Titled Patchwork and set in the same rural north Florida community as her first novel Reparation
(published by the Florida Historical Society Press in 2013), it deals
with the topic of unwed pregnancy.
In 1952, when 25-year-old Lacey
McCormick gets a telegram in New York from her mother informing her that
her father has had a stroke, Lacey knows that after nearly seven years
of family estrangement, it is time to finally return home and introduce
six-year-old Benny to her devout Southern Baptist family. Reconciliation
will be difficult, but she is determined to demand acceptance, if not
for herself, then at least for Benny.
Between
her father’s continued disavowal of her and Benny, her siblings’
reproaches of her past behavior, and her mother’s equivocal position—“I
feel like I’m being tore in two, with you pulling one way and your daddy
the other,” Lacey is beset at all sides, and the birth of a new,
legitimate McCormick grandchild during her visit underscores the
unfairness of the situation.
In
addition to patching up her frayed relationship with her family, Lacey
must also forgive herself, something she has been unable to do for the
past six years. Can Neil Hardister, a childhood friend and neighbor who
is harboring his own secret, help to restore her trust in men so that
she can finally let the past go and move forward with new confidence and
self-worth?
About the Author
Rodgers has lived in Titusville since 1966. Now
retired after a thirty-plus year career as an English teacher, most of
those years at the Titusville campus of Brevard Community College (now
Eastern Florida State College), she is enjoying having more time to
devote to writing. She is married and has three adult children.
The novel is available at amazon.com in paperback ($11.00) and Kindle versions ($8.99).
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