Beyond Ivy Walls
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, a recluse and a young woman discover that the scars of life are no match against an act of love.
Iowa, 1903. All of Monticello believes Otis Taylor has been away fostering his musical genius. But the truth is that his father exiled him long ago, rejecting Otis's appearance and the scars that came with it. Now that he is the last living Taylor, Otis has covertly returned to settle his family's affairs and rid himself of his past for good. However, he soon discovers that he may not have been the only abandoned Taylor and begins a tireless search for his missing toddler niece.
At twenty-three years old, Sadie West left her family farm and found employment at the Hoag feather duster factory. It isn't a romantic job, but she's hardly had a glimmer of romance since her beau went off to college, leaving her with no promise of a future together. Desperate to save money and help her family make ends meet, she trespasses and finds shelter in an abandoned building--and is thrown in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.
Otis's wounds are deep, but as Sadie's friendship with him grows, she begins to fall for the man beneath the mask. Locating his long-lost niece, however, is more difficult than either could have imagined, and Sadie West may be the key to Otis Taylor finally finding his way home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fordham (The Letter Tree) spins a tender tale of faith and new beginnings set in 1903 Iowa. After Sadie West's father injures himself in a riding accident, the 23-year-old spitfire leaves her family's farm for the city of Monticello, where she toils at a feather duster factory and sends her pay back home. Unable to afford lodging, she shelters in an abandoned factory behind the Taylor family mansion. When Otis Taylor returns to town to sell the house following his brother Reginald's death, he discovers Sadie living in the nearby building. The two slowly build a friendship, and Sadie encourages the reclusive Otis, who has prominent scars on his scalp and face from harmful "remedies" for his childhood alopecia, to accept himself through God's love. As their romance sparks, an unexpected search for Reginald's illegitimate daughter, who may have been put up for adoption by the child's mother, throws a wrench in the works. Fordham delicately develops her protagonists' inner worlds as their love story develops ("He'd known that life... had been lacking, but until this moment, he'd been unsure what exactly he was missing. Now he knew"). It's a touching, resonant ode to the power of hope.
