| Of Dreams and Nightmares is a historical romance set in the mid 1800's. Martha McGuire's arranged marriage to widower Jebediah Whittaker turns her pampered, aristocratic life into her worst nightmare. She is taken by immigrant ship across the Atlantic to the Americas. Her every waking moment is filled with thoughts of escape but to no avail. In the colonies she discovers that she is to travel the vast wilderness in a wagon train. In a foreign land, accompanied by strangers, the young woman discovers just what a monster she is married to. Her relationship with Jebediah's three sons is almost non-existent. The family settles in Wyoming where the loneliness and the cruelty almost drive her mad. She prays that someone will rescue her.
Meanwhile back in England, her father has discovered that he was tricked by the wily Jebediah and hires Martha's childhood friend, Austin Wells to find and rescue her. Through a strange twist of fate, accompanying Austin on his journey is Jebediah's brother, Jeremy. After the dramatic rescue, we find Martha and Jebediah's three sons in St. Louis in the mid 1800's. She is filled with confusion and fear. Can she raise the three boys on her own. How will they survive? Finally fate steps in and she opens a dress shop. Using her past experience with British designers, Martha throws herself into her business. Her life takes a drastic turn for the better as she discovers her strengths and conquers her weaknesses. We watch Martha flourish from innocent pampered teenager to mature, responsible businesswoman. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1600-1899 Poverty, surviving Yes Kind of living: - general poverty story Family, struggle with Yes Struggle with: - Husband Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Exploring into the wild Yes kind of story - colonizing/settling in new area Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 () United States Yes Prairie? Yes Small town? Yes Writing Style Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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