Promise of the Valley

Westward Dreams #2

by Jane Peart

When Southern-born Adelaide Pride follows her Yankee employer to California, she faces a private civil war and re-examines her values of love and honor. Twenty-six-year-old Adelaide Pride stepped out of the horse-drawn buggy to gaze one last time at the charred remains of her childhood home. Six generations of Prides had lived and entertained there under warm Southern skies. That was before the Civil War- robbing Addie of her youth, her parents, and the man she would have married! Fortunately, an aunt and uncle had taken her in, but they could scarcely afford to feed themselves. Not wishing to remain a burden, Addie accepted a position as a companion to a Yankee spinster at a health spa in Napa Valley, California. Addie shivered with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Very soon she would journey by train to the remote land that was untouched be conflict and overflowing with financial prosperity and social opportunities. Did she dare to hope that her dreams of love and belonging were yet possible? Or would she become lost in the a world of the sick and aged, ending up a spinster like her employer, Mrs. Amberly?

Genres: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, Christian

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Jane Johnson Peart of Asheville, North Carolina, Humboldt and Marin counties, California, and in recent years, Hawaii, passed away in 2007. She was the author of more than 60 works of suspense, historical fiction and romance, which touched the hearts and minds of thousands of readers whose correspondence she treasured. She wrote for the secular and Christian market, and is best known for the Brides of Montclair series.

Reviews

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

great novel. It's about choices. Grumbling in the aftermath or picking up and moving on. Listening to the voice within or listening to the masses. Needing what's right and real or needing stability and what seems to please others. Clinging to the past or embracing the future. Forgiveness, love and overcoming pride and self-righteousness dominate this novel by the late Jane Peart..

[EmbGram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pratt doesn't disappoint

This is another fine book about a young woman in post-Civil War Virginia who has lost most of her life as she knew it. Making a new life in "wild" California wine country as an assistant to an abrasive, selfish elderly woman brings challenges to her faith, as well as blessings in the form of new friends. Along the way, she is faced with her own snobbery and challenged to grow in faith and forgiveness.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites

I have reread this story often. Surprising and well shaped characters in a sweet story. Jane Peary writes clean christian and it is not preachy.

[Doreen Nicolet]

Didn't like.

[April Suter · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1870 Addie leaves her precious Virginia to be a companion to a Yankee spinster in Napa Valley, California. Addie learns to be patient, and it is very hard to keep her mouth shut. What makes the whole experience tolerable are this interesting characters that she meets, especially this handsome Rex.
282 pages

[Cws]

LP Pea

[tinytigger · Rating 3 out of 5]

what I call a fluff novel, easy to read

[Jlebreton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet story!