There is far more fascinating history to the San Diego Mission de Alcala than I can relate in this brief note, but I want to confirm that the United States Army truly did occupy the mission beginning after the Mexican-American War (1848) and ending in 1858. For photographs and details on how they used the sanctuary and treated the grounds in general, read my blog post here.
As you can see, I tried to remain as true to history as possible while maneuvering my characters through nineteenth century California. However, I did take a bit of artistic license during Eliza and Daniel’s journey into the mountains. Two years prior to the start of this novel, certain clans of the Kumeyaay Nation were forced to relocate their village to a spot on the San Diego River which Eliza and Daniel would have walked straight through as they followed the river. Ultimately, I decided that including these Kumeyaay settlements would have slowed the story too much with details that didn’t affect the overall plot. My nod to this decision is the moment when Eliza and Daniel spot the traveling group of “Indians” in chapter twenty-six. I hope it is clear that no offense was intended by this omission. I’m looking forward to sharing more about these unique First Peoples in Sing in the Sunlight.
Blessings,
Kathleen
About the Author
Kathleen Denly lives in sunny Southern California with her loving husband, four young children, and two cats. As a member of the adoption and foster community, children in need are a cause dear to her heart and she finds they make frequent appearances in her stories. When she isn’t writing, researching, or caring for children, Kathleen spends her time reading, visiting historical sites, hiking, and crafting.
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If you enjoyed Waltz in the Wilderness, be sure to sign up for Kathleen’s Readers’ Club! KRC Members will be the first to know when Sing in the Sunlight, the second book in the Chaparral Hearts series, is scheduled to be released!
Questions for discussion
At the beginning of the novel, Jim Brooks is suffering from chronic depression due to the loss of his beloved wife and mother of his child. He is seeking happiness through staying busy and has become obsessed with finding enough gold to build the house he once promised Eliza’s mother. Eliza is obsessed with restoring Jim’s joy.
Have you or anyone you know, ever experienced clinical depression? How did you/they handle it?
What does the Bible say about grief, depression, and heavy hearts?
What does the Bible say about joy?
Have you ever struggled with witnessing a loved-one’s suffering? How did you handle it?
What does the Bible say about comfort?
At the end of chapter one, Jim Brooks leaves his daughter in the care of relatives whom she has just met because he believes they can do a better job of raising her than he is doing. Eliza vehemently disagrees with his decision.
What do you think of Jim’s decision and how he chose to leave?
Have you ever had someone with good intentions make a decision on your behalf that you vehemently disagreed with?
If you’re a parent, what decisions have you made that you knew your child would strongly disagree with, but which you felt was in his/her best interests?
At this point in California’s history, long distance communication was extremely unreliable and when a letter was successfully delivered, it was weeks or months after the sender sent it. The sole telegraph line in California at the time ran only from San Francisco to Marysville, California—a distance of approximately 130 miles. The connection to the rest of the country would not be completed until October 1861. Today, we have reliable postal service, emails, cell phones, and even video chatting which can make it seem that your relative living on the opposite side of the globe is standing in your living room.
How do you think you would respond if our modern communication methods suddenly disappeared and you were left with only the communication methods available in 1854 California?
How do you think the lack of efficient and reliable communication methods affected the characters in Waltz in the Wilderness?
As a result of Eliza’s decision to take matters into her own hands, against the advice of her uncle, Eliza finds herself in a very vulnerable position. Her determination to solve her pa’s problem of depression only creates more problems.
Have you ever made a decision that left you unexpectedly vulnerable?
Do you struggle with issues of control?
Have you ever tried to fix someone else’s problems?
Have you ever prayed about something for so long that you wondered whether God was even listening?
What does the Bible say about control?
What does the Bible say about godly counsel?
What does the Bible say about patience?
When the Virginia wrecks and Eliza’s lifeboat capsizes, Eliza clings to the bag holding Mama’s Bible—despite its weight threatening to drown her—until Daniel forces her to release it. The loss of Mama’s Bible in exchange for Eliza’s life triggers a panic attack brought on by the parallel of how, years prior, Mama exchanged her life for Eliza’s during the wagon accident.
Have you or anyone you know ever experienced a panic attack? What was it like and how did you/they manage it?
What does the Bible say about fear and anxiety?
After the wreck, Daniel and Eliza have an illogical argument brought on by stress and adrenalin. The tension ends in hysterical laughter.
Have you ever argued with someone over something that you both later agreed was a ridiculous thing to argue about?
Have you ever experienced tension-releasing laughter?
What does the Bible say about laughter?
The moment Eliza’s carpet bag hit the ocean, Mama’s Bible was ruined, but given the chance, Eliza would have kept the water-damaged book. For her, the importance of that Bible wasn’t in its words (though those were clearly important), but in the person who’d once cherished it.
Are you more likely to hold on to sentimental objects or toss aside anything damaged or nonfunctional?
Is there anything you own that you wouldn’t give up even though it was damaged or quit working?
Eliza’s refusal to release the bag with Mama’s Bible symbolized her refusal to release the guilt she carried regarding her role in Mama’s death. This guilt affects every decision she makes, many of which go horribly awry.
Have you ever carried guilt in a way that affected the decisions you made?
Have you ever tried to make amends only to have your efforts backfire?
What does the Bible say about guilt/shame and how is it different from conviction?
What do you think helped Eliza eventually learn to release her guilt?
Today women travel alone on a regular basis, but Daniel and Eliza were raised to believe that women traveling alone are not only vulnerable, but their morality is subject to public suspicion and even condemnation. Thus, they go to great lengths in San Diego to conceal the fact that Eliza is traveling unescorted. Later, this extends to concealing that Daniel—an unmarried non-relative—is traveling with Eliza, unchaperoned.
In chapter nineteen, Daniel and Eliza have an open discussion regarding lies and deception, during which Daniel justifies not correcting Tebbetts’s assumption about their travel plans, by paraphrasing, in part, the King James translation of 1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
How does the King James translation of 1 Thess. 5:22 differ from more modern translations, such as the ESV, NIV, or NASB?
What do you think of Daniel’s application of this verse and do you think he might have acted differently had he had one of our more modern translations?
What do you think of the methods Daniel and Eliza employed to pull off the concealment of their traveling plans?
What is the difference between deception and secrecy?
How do you think you would handle the social expectations and pressures of this time period?
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Whic
h characters in Waltz in the Wilderness did you empathize with and which characters did you dislike?
Did your feelings about any of the characters change over the course of the story?
How does this book compare to other historical Christian romance novels you’ve read?
Which parts of this story did you find fresh or unique?
Did the story take you anywhere you haven’t been before or portray an issue in a new light?
Were there any parts of history or culture included that were new to you?
Did this story challenge you or your perceptions in any way?
Did reading this story help you understand someone better, or even yourself?
What do you think happens when Alice returns to Benjamin in Massachusetts?
What did you think of Richard Stevens? Would you like to read how he meets his match in Sing in the Sunlight? Who do you think would make a good match for Richard?
Want more?
If you love historical romance, check out the other Wild Heart books!
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Marisol ~ Spanish Rose by Elva Cobb Martin
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Escaping to the New World is her only option...Rescuing her will wrap the chains of the Inquisition around his neck.
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Marisol Valentin flees Spain after murdering the nobleman who molested her. She ends up for sale on the indentured servants' block at Charles Town harbor—dirty, angry, and with child. Her hopes are shattered, but she must find a refuge for herself and the child she carries. Can this new land offer her the grace, love, and security she craves? Or must she escape again to her only living relative in Cartagena?
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Captain Ethan Becket, once a Charles Town minister, now sails the seas as a privateer, grieving his deceased wife. But when he takes captive a ship full of indentured servants, he's intrigued by the woman whose manners seem much more refined than the average Spanish serving girl. Perfect to become governess for his young son. But when he sets out on a quest to find his captured sister, said to be in Cartagena, little does he expect his new Spanish governess to stow away on his ship with her six-month-old son. Yet her offer of help to free his sister is too tempting to pass up. And her beauty, both inside and out, is too attractive for his heart to protect itself against—until he learns she is a wanted murderess.
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As their paths intertwine on a journey filled with danger, intrigue, and romance, only love and the grace of God can overcome the past and ignite a new beginning for Marisol and Ethan.
Rocky Mountain Redemption by Lisa J. Flickinger
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A Rocky Mountain logging camp may be just the place to find herself.
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To escape the devastation caused by the breaking of her wedding engagement, Isabelle Franklin joins her aunt in the Rocky Mountains to feed a camp of lumberjacks cutting on the slopes of Cougar Ridge. If only she could out run the lingering nightmares.
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Charles Bailey, camp foreman and Stony Creek's itinerant pastor, develops a reputation to match his new nickname — Preach. However, an inner battle ensues when the details of his rough history threaten to overcome the beliefs of his young faith.
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Amid the hazards of camp life, the unlikely friendship growing between the two surprises Isabelle. She's drawn to Preach's brute strength and gentle nature as he leads the ragtag crew toiling for Pollitt's Lumber. But when the ghosts from her past return to haunt her, the choices she will make change the course of her life forever—and that of the man she's come to love.
Acknowledgments
It is a myth that the writer’s journey is a solitary one. Left to my own devices, this novel would be an embarrassing ramble of words no reader should be forced to slog through. That it is not, is owed to many people.
First, to my husband who never let me give up on my calling and stood by me through all the craziness that comes with trying to start a writing career while homeschooling four young children. His willingness to do more than his share of the household chores, attempt to keep our rowdies to a dull roar while I typed in the other room, help me act out action scenes (complete with cardboard knives), remind me to get my behind in the chair when distractions sang their siren song, and let me soak his shirt with tears when I was convinced I just couldn’t juggle it all—his sacrifice and support are what made this novel possible. He is my real-life hero and the inspiration (on some level) for each of my fictional heroes.
I can’t forget to thank my children who’ve knocked on my door five times in the space of twenty minutes (completely ignoring the Writer at Work sign), bickered loud enough to be heard through the walls and fried my laptop in a puddle of spilled water. They’ve also listened to me read aloud chapter-after-chapter, fetched me food when I’ve forgotten to eat because I was burning up the keyboard, and celebrated successes with me.
I have to thank my Super Beta Reader Squad. These women have been with me from the beginning and seen more iterations of this novel than I ever planned to write. Their tireless support, honest feedback, and ceaseless prayers as I climbed the mountains and sank into the valleys of this unpredictable writing journey have been a gift from God.
My sincerest gratitude to my first editor, Karen Ball, who set her own health issues aside and went above and beyond to help me meet my writing deadlines. Not only is she a true professional who knew exactly how to help me polish my manuscript while still keeping it my story, she is a true example of a woman striving to glorify God. God has used her on more than one occasion to touch my heart and I am blessed to know her.
My humble thanks to Misty Beller, my publisher, for taking a chance on this new author. Her patience and understanding helped make this path to publication as painless as possible. Also, I thank the staff at Wild Heart Publications for working so hard to get this novel into readers’ hands.
I also want to thank my Kathleen’s Readers’ Club members, my Armchair Adventure Krew, and my Advance Readers who have supported me and cheered me on. Your enthusiasm and encouragement mean more than I can say.
Last, but most important of all, I thank God for this calling He has placed on my heart, the people He has put in my life to help me along the way, and the unending grace and love He shows me each and every day.
Copyright © 2020 by Kathleen Denly
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means - photocopied, shared electronically, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, or other - without the express permission of the publisher. Exceptions will be made for brief quotations used in critical reviews or articles promoting this work.
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The characters and events in this fictional work are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is coincidental.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, Kings James Version.
Cover design by: Carpe Librum Book Design
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ISBN-10: 1-942265-15-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-942265-15-3
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