Can the
beautiful daughter of a French courtesan find a love that lasts for a lifetime?
In the early
1770's, Christiane Pelletier, an extraordinarily beautiful young woman, is next
in a line of courtesans who have been favorites at the French court during the
reigns of two monarchs. Yet she longs to be the beloved wife of one man, not a
lovely piece of human art passed from one noble to another. And the winds of
change are sweeping Europe.
After her
mother's violent murder, Christiane flees France with her renegade father. In
the Canadian wilderness, she survives the shock of leaving a life of wealth and
privilege. To escape frontier violence, she moves southward only to become
involved in the burgeoning American Revolution. Daughter of a French courtesan
to frontier wife to companion of Lady Washington, Christiane moves into the
heart of the American rebel elite. But one man in her life can never be
forgotten. Once he was her friend. Now he has become her enemy. Will he become
her destiny? Only God knows.
Here’s our Country Life Caption feature for today, sent by Valerie Comer of Canada.
At first glance, this seems like a very sad or rude photo: a church with a ‘No Trespassing’ sign. But read on . . . .
Says Valerie: "We came across this abandoned church on a back road in southern British Columbia and were disappointed to see the emphatic 'No Trespassing' sign attached to the door. Later we discovered that the landowner over-wintered bee colonies in the church. What had once, presumably, been a sanctuary for worshipers is now a sanctuary for honeybees."
About Valerie Comer
Valerie Comer writes contemporary romance set in British Columbia, Canada, as well as fantasy set in uncharted dimensions. She lives on a small farm with her husband, an energetic dog, two psycho kittens, several hives of bees, and a herd of Herefords.
Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughter.
Valerie is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency and has recently sold her first work, Treasure’s Promise, a novella, to Barbour Books. To be released March 2012.
We received permission to relate this inspiring story, which we read about in our friends' Mark & Beth Ward's newsletter recently. The Wards have served as NAIM (North America Indigenous Ministries) missionaries in Canada for many years. Mark is now a Field Director. They reside in British Columbia.
Jannie Johnson is Dutch-born, tall, attractive, quite musical, and carries herself like a queen. She and her husband, Howard Johnson, dived into their roles as missionaries by learning the Shuswap culture and language.
Last summer Jannie was diagnosed with breast cancer. Jannie believes that her health is being restored after chemo and radiation treatments.
Jannie stayed, during the weekdays, at a cancer clinic in a town several hours away from their home in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, to do daily radiation treatments. She brought her laptop, iPod, knitting projects, and her trust that God was in control.
Her husband, Howard, wrote this on April 4, 2010.
Jannie teaches a "Kye7e" (Grandma) to shoot
Jannie met a Native lady from Adams Lake Indian Band at the cancer clinic in Kelowana. Jannie recognized her and said, “Weyt-k”. The elder looked up with a surprised face as she greeted a tall white woman speaking her language. Jannie introduced herself and over several weeks had many opportunities to visit and get to know her.
The elder told Jannie that she was going back to ALIB (Adams Lake Indian Band) in Chase to have a birthday party on Saturday. She said there would be a lot of drumming and singing. She invited Jannie to come to the family party. Jannie mentioned that she had a drum song she would like to sing for her.
So, yesterday, we found ourselves in the ALIB band hall, which was packed with family and friends of the elder. After hours of drumming and singing, the master of ceremonies passed out gifts to honor those who helped sing, and to honor family members. The gift given to each was a single side of dried salmon. Cultural protocol was being followed.
The last fish was taken out and the master of ceremonies called for Jannie, the friend of the elder, to come forward. Jannie and I were quite surprised. As she strode to the front, she addressed the group in Secwepemtsin, the Shuswap language, gave her name, and told who her language teacher was. You could have heard a pin drop. There was a tall blond woman speaking their language and holding a Shuswap hand drum in the Band Hall, surrounded by fluent speakers and professional singers.
I prayed quietly. Jannie began to speak in English. “I want to share a song that was written by a Mohawk man. It tells us that Creator loves us and cares for us. He cares for us when we are young and into our old age. He cares for us when we deal with cancer, too. This is for Auntie.” She then began to drum and sing.
What happened next brought tears to my eyes! As she sang the drum song, the whole room of people rose to their feet in respect! It was so beautiful and powerful. I was all choked up with emotion. When Jannie finished, she was greeted with applause and received her gift of the fish. Last night at the birthday party, we saw God empower us – especially Jannie – to serve. He gave her the courage to seize the moment for God, and sing for Him.
When has a debilitating experience in your life provided a bridge to someone whom you may never have interacted with otherwise?
