BETSEY ANNE

By

Diana Buckley

          Drawn by a charm that Jefferson seemed able to turn on and off at will, and longing for a home and children of her own, Betsey Anne plunged into marriage with a man she hardly knew.  But life on the Michigan homestead was far from idyllic in a rough, two-room cabin with a dirt floor.  Though neighbors cleared their land and developed successful farms, Jefferson was unable to make a living on his place, leaving Betsey, a skilled seamstress, no choice but to take in sewing as she struggled to care for her growing family.  Jefferson's charm was more consistently "off" than "on," and frequently, he would be absent from home for days at a time with no explanation.  Duty became Betsey Anne’s constant companion, though sometimes she viewed it as a penance to be borne and other times she virtually wrapped it around her shoulders like a warm blanket.  Always, she longed for the peace, contentment and fulfillment that others seemed to find so easily.  Would it elude her forever? Or would she finally see that it had been within her grasp all along?  Set in rural Michigan during the Civil War, Betsey Anne is a story of love and loss, hardship and joy, and a young woman’s journey to lasting inner peace.