On Tour: Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby, a Guest Post and a Giveaway!

Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby
Series: Wyattsville #2
Paperback, 300 pages
Published October 15th 2013 by Bent Pine Publishing

When tragedy strikes a West Virginia coal mining family, two children start out on a trek that they hope will lead them to a new life. Before a day passes, the children are separated and the boy is caught up in a robbery not of his making. If his sister can find him, she may be able to save him. The problem is she’s only seven years old, and who’s going to believe a kid?

Jubilee’s Journey is Book Two in the Wyattsville Series. This story of discovering lost family and finding love reconnects readers with Ethan Allen and the other heart-warming characters of the bestselling novel Spare Change.

My thoughts about Jubilee's Journey ~~

Oh my, another book by Bette that I just loved. Jubilee's Journey is book 2 in the Wyattsville Series so I got to go back to that wonderful world of Wyattsville to spend time with the people I came to know and love from Spare Change. What an enjoyable visit.

Jubilee is born full of spunk and spunk is what helps her get through the trauma of her parents dying and being kicked out her home at the age of 7. She and her brother head to the city to find an aunt who they hope will take them in. Things don't go well and she is separated from her brother. Along comes Ethan Allen, who is the main character in Spare Change. He takes her under his wing and stands by her while they try to work things out. So once again, we become a part of the wonderful world of Ethan Allen and all those great characters who were there to help him, when he needed it.

I love Grandma Olivia, who is such a great character and has such a kind, caring network of friends who are always there to help her, even when their methods might be just a little questionable. I would love to meet Olivia and to be able to call her a friend. That's how real Bette's characters became to me, the reader.

Bette's writes so beautifully and creates a world that feels so warm and inviting. Her books are ones to savor and enjoy! And she writes great passages that are just so amazing. I want to share a few that I marked.

'He pulled his baby sister to his chest and held her there for such a long time their heartbeats mingled and bonded them one to the other for the rest of their lives - however long or short that time night be.'

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' "Where's hope when I need it?'

"It's probably right where you left it," Clara replied.

"Right where I left it?"

"Uh-huh." Clara nodded. "Hope don't leave. People just forget it's there." '

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' "Then he'll be back," she answered flatly. A thin shell of resolve crusted over the outside of who she was. Inside there were a million broken pieces, fragments of things taken from her life - a mother, a father, a brother, a place to call home, friends, familiar roads, a garden - the shell kept all those things from spilling out like handfulls of Cheerios.'

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'Everything had a price. The price of not loving was an empty and cold existence. It meant a lifetime of wordless evenings and nights where the chill of loneliness rattled in your bones. The price of loving was beyond measure.'

About the author

Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, and the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal.

Her published novels to date are: Cracks in the Sidewalk (2009), Spare Change (2011), The Twelfth Child (2012), Cupid’s Christmas (2012) and What Matters Most (2013). She has also authored “Life in the Land of IS” a memoir of Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world’s longest living quadriplegic.

Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

Writing Jubilee’s Journey was somewhat of a trip down memory lane, not because of my own memories, but the memories of my mother, who so generously passed them down to me. 

My mom was born in Coal Fork, West Virginia; as was her sister Ruth. They were two in a family of eleven siblings.  Times were hard and the family didn't always have the luxury of living under the same roof. Once the girls were old enough, they were sent to live with relatives who needed house help; the boys went to work in the mines or became farm hands for neighbors.  

When my mom was not yet twenty, she married a city boy from Charleston and moved away. Her sister Ruth married one of the men who worked in the mines. The part of Jubilee’s Journey that tells of life in the mining community is based on the truth of how it was.  

After Ruth was married, she and her new husband moved into a tiny four room house wedged into the side of the coal-mining mountain. Did they own the house? No. Did they rent the house? No. In the little community of Coal Fork, there was no owning or renting; if a house stood empty and you had need of it…you simply moved in. Of course the house was little more than walls and a floor, there was no plumbing, no electricity, just a cast iron coal stove used for both cooking and heat.  But it was a house and it was free. It had a stretch of land suitable for some farming and a well that had a plentiful supply of cold clear water – water far better than anything you've ever tasted. 

In Jubilee’s Journey, Ruth’s husband is named Bartholomew but in real life his name was Clifford. He was a miner who lived a life very similar to Bartholomew’s. He and Ruth had four children, the eldest of which was my cousin Paul. And the Paul I knew was my model for the one I created. He was wise, strong, loyal beyond belief, and filled with love and Faith.  

I spent many summer vacations visiting my cousins and the memories I have are truly treasured ones. Despite the fact that Ruth’s family had very few material possessions, they were wealthy beyond compare. They were rich in the things that no amount of money can buy—love, faith, trust and hope. Like Bartholomew, Clifford hoped his boys would never see the inside of a mine…and they didn't. All four of my cousins earned scholarships and went on to become professionals in the fields of education and ministry.

I have always been inspired by the goodness in the life they led, and that inspiration is what led me to write Jubilee’s Journey. I hope the book inspires others as the truth behind this story has inspired me. 

Bette Lee Crosby

Connect with Bette

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Giveaway Time!!

Bette is offering 2 copies of Jubilee's Journey for the giveaway here at The Book Bag. Other stops on the tour have giveaways going on as well. Check them out for more chances to win!

Jubilee's Journey Tour Stops

Thank you so much Bette!!

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