Prairie Wife

by Cheryl St. John

No mother should have to bury her child

Amy Shelby had learned this sorrow well. Her heart had gone into the ground a year ago along with her boy's tiny casket. And not even her husband, Jesse, wrestling the same pain, could resurrect any hope in her.

Jesse Shelby mourned two losses— his baby son and his openhearted bride, for when their child died, Amy retreated behind a wall of grief as wide as the Nebraska prairie. But could a chance for a new family heal their wounded marriage—and guide them back to the comfort of each other's arms?

Genres: Historical Romance, Westerns, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Harlequin

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Cheryl is the author of more than fifty historical and contemporary romances. Her stories have earned numerous RITA nominations, Romantic Times awards and are published in over a dozen languages.

In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real-life situations.”

With a 4.9 star rating on amazon, her bestselling non-fiction book, Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict by Writers Digest Books is available in print and digital.

Reviews

[AG Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This is not an easy read, but it is a wonderful story of grief, healing, and hope.

[spoiler]Jesse and Amy are already married and the book begins with their burial of their three year old son. Amy retreats into a state of numbness and her duties, refusing to allow herself to feel anything for fear of losing her sanity. Jesse tries but has no idea how to help his wife, so he fills his days with his duties as a stage coach station owner and his nights with whiskey.

The reader is taken on the emotional journey of watching Jesse and Amy drift further apart, hurting each other unintentionally and sometimes intentionally because they don't know how move forward. Through the people who work with them and who pass through their coach stop, and with the help of Amy's widowed father and Jesse's nephew, they begin the hard road of finding each other again. They can forgive each other, but the hardest part is learning to forgive themselves. Building a new family forces them to face the old one they lost along with their son and finally deal with the changes and their grief.

Throughout the story, even though we see how difficult things have become for Jesse and Amy, their love is still there. The heavy subject matter never bogs down the reader because of that love and a glimmer of hope offered. Instead of a depressing, sad book, this is a beautiful story of emotional healing and coming through the other side of the greatest pain a parent can feel.[/spoiler]

[Runningwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re up for a tearjerker that gives you pause to consider the ways emotional intimacy is the soul of romantic relationships, this is the book for you.

This is a story about love in its many forms providing redemption and healing after bereavement. Strictly speaking it is not a romance. There is no heady pursuit or infatuation. This story lays bare the fact that a happily ever after takes hard work. Love takes perseverance, not just to a partner but within oneself.

The story starts with Jesse and Amy’s love in a dire state, fading and withering away. Eventually, our couple recovers their love after loss by repeatedly giving to others - when it seems like they have no more love left to give. I was moved to tears at many points of the story and related to Amy. Amy was emotionally burnt out with guilt after the loss of her little boy, Tim, from an accident. Jesse was broken from losing Tim, but in addition to that, he lost Amy from that day on. She had walled herself up.

From Amy’s numbness, coping mechanisms, taboos, avoidance, self-recriminations, rationalisations…to Jesse’s red-blooded loving and heartbreak, helpless anger and determination, every element of the main characters’ pain reeled me into their living hell and I found myself standing close to watch their climb out of the abyss. The plot meanders and gives no straight answers, which is just as well - fiction and real life aren’t 5-step plans from a self help book.

At the end of the book I reckon I’m not so sure if it is the love for each other that was their salvation (and this is why I do not think it is a romance proper). Instead it seems that it is their combined love for all those around them that eases them into healing.

I’m giving it 4.5 stars (rounded up) for the emotional depth of the characters’ suffering and the excellent writing. There were many shrewd observations of failing marriages and relationships in trouble. I have to however remove 0.5 stars for the lack of romance proper and buffoonish ensemble cast (cartoonish villains).

[Cherry-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. The book spoke about love, forgiveness, facing one's fears, overcoming depression and communicating in relationships. Oh how I wished all problems in relationships could be so calmly confronted and reasoning and rationale are applied when treating with these issues. Jesse and Amy lost their little boy and unable to talk about the grief they both experienced allowed this lack of communication to balloon to a drinking problem for him and denial by her. As they continued with their lives at their stage stop events, some out of their control, occur that forces them to face their fears, guilt and denial head-on culminating in their opening their hearts to a new family situation.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

2020 has been a difficult year and I've been searching for feel-good books to help me skim along with what is going on.  I ordered this selection because Cheryl St. John is usually a feel-good author.  This book was a shock.  The couple is already married for years and they have lost their only child through drowning.  This is the story of how Amy and Jesse learn to love again.  It is a poignant story, but never maudlin or sappy.

The marriage is in severe crisis; Amy stops feeling and Jesse takes up the bottle.  However, the couple is in business with a stagecoach station/wagon train station (rooms, baths, and meals) on the Overland Trail.  They are constantly surrounded by others. The author gives the reader a hint of what will save the couple.  She notes that Amy takes good care of others.  Even in Jesse's most difficult days, he always helps Amy.  With those behaviors, the reader can hold on until they find each other again.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shelby Station, Nebraska, 1867, is a busy place with stagecoaches coming and going; horses being raised for the Army; and family at its best trying to survive good times as well as bad. There are a couple new graves on the hill that strike the family hard, and I felt every one of those tears. I loved the storyline about the expanding of the family with boys who had nowhere else to go; I enjoyed the secrets of Sam; and I admired how Jesse and his Amy worked through a great loss. The writing is excellent, and I celebrated both with happy tears and sad ones. This book comes with a warning to have Kleenex nearby.

[keys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho. De repente lo sentí muy apresurado pero creo que es una buena introducción a las novelas y a la lectura. Puedes llegar a sentir cosas con los personajes y eso es lo que me gusta muchísimo. Me gustaría volverlo a leer más adelante, realmente no creí terminarlo tan temprano pero lo aprecié mucho.

[Lacey Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

The death of an only child creates tension in this western romance. One turns inward refusing to share any emotions and the other turns to drinking to deal with grief. Throw in a family business and a nephew that needs their help & it’s a book! Pioneer women’s work ethic always has me feeling mighty grateful for my lot.

[lissa ༺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

IN CHERYL ST. JOHN WE TRUST!

In love with her writing, short yet beautiful stories about working class people who are dreamers, have struggles, and love unconditionally. I’m obsessed with her men, too. What great guys she writes. And for female characters… HEAVEN.

[Izzie d · Rating 3 out of 5]

Married couple dealing with the loss of a child.
No cheating.
Other woman tries to seduce husband, she kisses him, wife witnesses it, other woman makes it look more than it is.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was just sad...
I'm very glad they could go on with her life after losing their son :(
2.5 stars (I like sad stories but not THIS sad)

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant parts! Loved it!

[Sarahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
Me gusto... 🫠

[Stephanie Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another sweet read from St John! This one was a different take on romances than I usually read. So it was nice to read the perspective of after happily ever after.

[Natalija · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was ok, but I never connected with the characters.

[Ludmila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me acuerdo que no le tenía fe pero el angst me encantó.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clean, little house on the prairie but scary

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was part of a "blogger bundle" of e-books I bought directly from Harlequin. I like these bundles, because they have some good backlist books in them. This was one of the better books in the series. I particularly liked it because it was about a couple who were already married, but the marriage was under severe strain because of the death of a child. The story is about how they bring themselves together again. It takes place on the Great Plains during the "Wild west," except it's not too very wild. The Indians are mostly controlled. The hero and heroine and her father run a stagecoach station. This is a good, solid read. I liked it a lot.

[Michelle Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am pretty sure that I read this before. It was as good as I expect a book by cheryl St. John to be. For me, she is one of the best novelist, for me, period. She is not one of the best romantic fiction she is just good. I enjoy the way she develops her characters. They are always interesting fell authentic.
Amy and Jesse were both so miserable the I was not sure that I would be able to get past their misery to believe in a renewed love between them I did, by the end.

This was wonderful.
I enjoye Secondhand Bride more but this book reminded me of why I loved that book. I think I will reread it lol.
This is a great novel.
I wish St. John wrote more.

[Mary Lauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still a good book, but only two stars because the main plot driver (couple trying to deal with death of child) is not one that speaks to me.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story and emotions in this book.

[Laura (Kyahgirl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5; 4 stars; A-

A very tough story of a couple trying to overcome the loss of their child and get on with their lives. Maybe a bit sentimental but a very touching love story.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing story.

[Pauline Doyle]

I also finished this book on September 08, 2006

[Madeline Carroll Surratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prairie Wife

Very slow … no development of main characters… it was just okay.. I’ve read a lot of books by Cheryl St John… this definitely not one of my favorites

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

blech. this is like 1.5 because i did finish it and it was almost sort of ok