The Courtship of Queens

The Courtship of Queens explores the struggles of Fannie and Dan, two siblings, who escaped from slavery in the 1820s. They are trying to create enduring romances in a world constructed to marginalize people with their profiles.

Following a failed romance with an abusive husband, Fannie had moved west with her best friend, Val, whose daughter is Dan’s child. Leading them into the wilderness are their new husbands, twin black trappers who have chosen the surname Lucky. Together with a multicultural group of mountain men, the families make their livings in the Rockies. The women are exhilarated by living conditions in an area where people are judged more by competency than by color. Can a woman who grew up a middle child, playing the role of a mediator and attempting to hide in plain sight, rise to find her true self as a decision maker in times of intense stress? How will Fannie negotiate living amidst true freedom and breathtaking beauty yet tempered everywhere by violence? Can she maintain the core of her identity when forced to shift between cultures that are each distinct from her life as a slave?

Meanwhile, Dan Crispin, who is married to Zephyrine, his childhood sweetheart from Fruits of the Spirit Plantation, seeks recognition as a gentleman. The prosperous and influential owner of a Cincinnati stagecoach line becomes an Underground Railroad conductor placing at risk lifelong dreams. With their growing family, the Crispins endure several mob attacks and befriend such famous people as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles Dickens. With the help of Ferguson and Starbuck, his Quaker friends, can Dan find the respect he so desperately wants while living in a border town that denies blacks such basic rights as voting and access to public education? Can he balance his love for Zephyrine with constant shadows caused by myriad sexual liaisons prior to settling down? Can he become the father he wishes to be when others have parented most of his children in his absence?

Click here to purchase a Kindle edition of The Courtship of Queens from Amazon