Ivy's Heart

This tale is the sequel to Marta's Heart. Ivette, or Ivy, is Marta's third daughter. The story opens in the summer of 1897, as Marta is working as a schoolteacher where her husband, Daniel, is the headmaster. Together, they have six children, four girls and two boys. Ivy is 14, a tomboy, and a snoop, as she spies on her older sister, Anna. Anna's 16, and ready for romance; whereas Ivy prefers to hide out in her treehouse and sneak a peek into her mother's diary. Over the next two years, Ivy will evolve and blossom as she, too, discovers romance, something she swore she'd never embrace. Tragedies and triumphs will turn the tomboy into a woman, who will become a nurse, a wife, and a mother by the age of 17.

When I wrote Marta's Heart, which begins in 1870, I began to think about my protagonist, who is 14 when the story opens, as a woman in her forties, with six children of her own. The seeds for a sequel were planted when I decided to focus on Marta's third daughter, Ivette, and tell her story as a 14-year-old girl living in 1897. As book 2 came to life, I knew this story would become a trilogy. Book 3, which is still being edited, will begin in 1924, where 14-year-old Gladys, or Glady, gets into all kinds of mischief, much to the dismay of Ivy, her mother. Six generations of females will prevail as a new baby is born in chapter one while Granny Eliza, Marta's mother, continues to thrive.