Title: Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip
Author: Gail Ward Olmsted
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Genre: Biographical Fiction / Women’s Fiction
About the Book:
“Kate makes me want to take a road trip. She’s lovable and charming, and her voice… SO GOOD.” -Kerry Chaput, author of the Defying the Crown series
If you loved Landscape of a Marriage by Gail Ward Olmsted, you’ll absolutely adore Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip.
In the fall of 1907, Katharine decides to drive from Newport, Rhode Island to her new home in Jackson, New Hampshire. Despite the concerns of her family and friends that at the age of 77 she lacks the stamina for the nearly 300-mile journey, Katharine sets out alone. Over the next six days, she receives a marriage proposal, pulls an all-nighter, saves a life or two, crashes a high-society event, meets a kindred spirit, faces a former rival, makes a new friend, takes a stroll with a future movie mogul, advises a troubled newlywed, and reflects upon a life well lived: her own!
Join her as she embarks upon her remarkable road trip.
Katharine Prescott Wormeley (1830-1908) was born into affluence in England and emigrated to the U. S. at the age of eighteen. Fiercely independent and never married, Kate volunteered as a nurse on a medical ship during the Civil War, before founding a vocational school for underprivileged girls. She was a philanthropist, a hospital administrator, and the author of The Other Side of War: 1862, as well as the noted translator of dozens of novels written by French authors, including Moliere and Balzac. She is included in History’s Women: The Unsung Heroines; History of American Women: Civil War Women; Who’s Who in America 1908-09; Notable American Women: 1607-1950; A Biographical Dictionary; and A Woman of the (19th) Century: Leading American Women in All Walks of Life and figures prominently in With Courage and Delicacy: Civil War on the Peninsula by Nancy Scripture Garrison.
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Excerpt:
I had traveled to New Hampshire with friends in the past, most frequently by train, but this solo trip in my new car felt like the best course of action at the moment. I chuckled at the ridiculous idea I had planted in Ariana’s head about Edward Talbot traveling with me. The very thought! He would insist on doing all the driving and smoking those foul cigars of his and, based on Sarah’s account of trips she had taken with him, would need to stop for frequent bathroom breaks. A five- or six-day journey would turn into a two-week odyssey if Edward had anything to say about it! No, this was a trip I had envisioned taking on my own for some time. If not now, then when?
I shook my head to rid my brain of my doctor’s grim pronouncement as I gathered up the last of my things and made my way to the garage, where my newly purchased vehicle was freshly washed, waxed, and ready to go. I vowed I would be very careful, and at the first sign of a problem, I would . . . Well, I honestly hadn’t thought that far, and there was no sense borrowing trouble. I would be fine, just fine. I had to be. “My chariot awaits,” I murmured to myself. I went through the quick series of steps to get it started and, after cranking the engine, was rewarded with a robust growl from under the hood. I patted the steering wheel appreciatively, and seconds later I was off! This trip was mine and mine alone to navigate, and I planned to treasure every single moment.
Why, who knew what sort of exciting adventures I might discover along the way?
About the Author:
Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction on a fulltime basis. A trip to Sedona, AZ inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. Three more novels followed before she began Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical work of fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband’s, and his wife Mary. After writing a pair of contemporary novels with a legal twist: Miranda Writes (9/22) and Miranda Nights (7/23) she is back with a biographical novel about an amazing woman. Watch for Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip: 6/13/24!
For more information, please visit her on Facebook and at www.gwolmstedauthor.carrd.co
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Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/gailolmsted
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/8158738.Gail_Ward_Olmsted
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