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Rebellious and high-spirited best describe author Susie Schade-Brewer as a teenager growing up in her native Kansas.
But it also describes Charlotte Mary West, the protagonist in Susie’s first-ever novel, “The Sacrifice of the Sage-Hen,” which unfolds in Independence, Mo., in the late 1850s.
A 16-year resident of Adrian, Mo., Susie says she sees herself in 19-year-old Charlotte because their teenage personalities are identical.
“I was struggling to find myself. I didn’t want people telling me what to do,” says Susie, who owns and operates a professional writing service in her home specializing in copywriting and resumes.
Charlotee’s struggles on the American frontier parallels those of the author’s.
“First, Charlotte was a daughter,” Susie says, explaining Charlotte’s father is an Army scout and mountain man who barters his daughter into an arranged marriage against her will.
“Then Charlotte was a wife,” Susie continues, whose husband, Grant, has only one ambition as proprietor of an Independence mercantile store: To become rich selling supplies to the pioneers heading west on the California and Oregon trails.
Charlotte, though, had another dream: To return to the uncivilized mountains of the West.
Struggling to find herself as a young woman, Charlotte’s struggles mount when her husband dies in a large prairie fire that ravages half of Independence. As a widow, any chance of Charlotte joining a wagon train to start a new life in the West are gone. Or at least she thought so.
If being a 19-year-old widow – with no means of support – and an unexpected mother to a mixed-race child wasn’t bad enough, Charlotte feels life is going on without her, but she doesn’t want to be left behind with men telling her what to do.
“She is trying to understand herself, be her own person and make her own choices,” says Susie, who says the novel takes place in Independence in 1859 just prior to the Civil War.
As the story unfolds in the 228-page book, Susie introduces Dirks Braelen, a young Texas gunman. Running from the law, Dirks comes to Independence where he and Charlotte become good friends.
Dirks is ready to retire his guns and begin living a peaceful and respective life. But those in his past may not let him, Susie says, explaining, “He’s trying to escape his past. She’s trying to escape her present.”
Rebellious and high-spirited best describe author Susie Schade-Brewer as a teenager growing up in her native Kansas.
But it also describes Charlotte Mary West, the protagonist in Susie’s first-ever novel, “The Sacrifice of the Sage-Hen,” which unfolds in Independence, Mo., in the late 1850s.
A 16-year resident of Adrian, Mo., Susie says she sees herself in 19-year-old Charlotte because their teenage personalities are identical.
“I was struggling to find myself. I didn’t want people telling me what to do,” says Susie, who owns and operates a professional writing service in her home specializing in copywriting and resumes.
Charlotee’s struggles on the American frontier parallels those of the author’s.
“First, Charlotte was a daughter,” Susie says, explaining Charlotte’s father is an Army scout and mountain man who barters his daughter into an arranged marriage against her will.
“Then Charlotte was a wife,” Susie continues, whose husband, Grant, has only one ambition as proprietor of an Independence mercantile store: To become rich selling supplies to the pioneers heading west on the California and Oregon trails.
Charlotte, though, had another dream: To return to the uncivilized mountains of the West.
Struggling to find herself as a young woman, Charlotte’s struggles mount when her husband dies in a large prairie fire that ravages half of Independence. As a widow, any chance of Charlotte joining a wagon train to start a new life in the West are gone. Or at least she thought so.
If being a 19-year-old widow – with no means of support – and an unexpected mother to a mixed-race child wasn’t bad enough, Charlotte feels life is going on without her, but she doesn’t want to be left behind with men telling her what to do.
“She is trying to understand herself, be her own person and make her own choices,” says Susie, who says the novel takes place in Independence in 1859 just prior to the Civil War.
As the story unfolds in the 228-page book, Susie introduces Dirks Braelen, a young Texas gunman. Running from the law, Dirks comes to Independence where he and Charlotte become good friends.
Dirks is ready to retire his guns and begin living a peaceful and respective life. But those in his past may not let him, Susie says, explaining, “He’s trying to escape his past. She’s trying to escape her present.”
For the pair to find happiness, Susie says they must reach back into a story from Charlotte’s past and learn the meaning of the sacrifice of the sage hen.
In the story of the sage hen (prairie chicken), Charlotte relates to the story and Dirks keeps relating the story to Charlotte and how it coincides with what is going on in her life.
“She gets discouraged and he reminds her of the story of the sage hen,” she explains. Thus the name of the novel: “The Sacrifice of the Sage-Hen.”
The novel, which Swimming Kangaroo Books is publishing as a trade paperback, sells for $13.99. Beginning March 15, it can be purchased online at www.swimmingkangaroo.com or at www.amazon.com.
If you enjoy the “Sage Hen,” you’ll want to read its sequel – “Passion’s End” – which Susie expects to be available online by year’s end.
How soon, she says, depends on how many time-consuming edits she has to make.
And, yes, “Sage Hen” has a conclusion. Dirks and Charlotte resolve their issues and begin their new life together on the Oregon Trail as “Passion’s Ends” begins.
Although Susie has dabbed in writing all her life, it wasn’t until she turned 50 that she decided she wanted to write a historical novel “before it was too late.”
“So I just started writing the story,” which Susie says was inspired by one of the many stories that her grandmother, Jessie Schade, told her as a young girl, while riding in the back of her parents’ covered wagon.
Grandma Schade was no stranger to Independence. She once lived in the “Queen City of the Trails” as a child. But Susie doesn’t know where or for how long.
As a high school student, Susie ‘s interest wasn’t in history. However, as she broadened her horizon, she fell in love with the westward expansion of the 19th century.
Today, Susie’s passion is writing about the wagon trains and all the trials and tribulations the pioneers endured.
Don’t look for any historical truths in “Sage Hen” or its sequel. All names and events are fictitious, including the disastrous Independence fire.
Noting there had already been a lot of pre-Civil War skirmishes along the Kansas- Missouri border, Susie says “Sage Hen” portrays what pioneer life was like during this time in American history.
Calling her book an “easy read,” Susie says anyone who enjoys stories about pioneers in the 19th century and the Old West should enjoy “Sage Hen.”
“It’s a good read for all ages,” she says, “especially young women with inner struggles who are trying to find themselves in situations where they don’t have any control .”
Is there another book in the future to follow the sequel? Susie hopes so. Possibly another sequel.
“That’s what I would like to do,” she says.
For more information about the book or the author, call Susie at 816-293-2633 or visit her Web site: www.Schade-Brewer.com.
