Please come for a reading and book signing of the new historical novel Deborah's Gift: a coming-of-age story as the 19th century hastens into the 20th, into the modern age. Deborah is a spirited child who becomes a determined young woman and disciplined artist, despite societal and personal obstacles. But only after she is widowed and her tyrannical great-aunt dies can Deborah pursue her dreams. Her first act of freedom will be a return to the island of Martinique to reunite with her lost child. She has no way of knowing the tragedies that await her or the price she will pay for her single-minded determination. With her only plan in tatters and nothing to take its place, Deborah resolutely travels to New York City. There, in spite of disasters and her own mistakes, she clings to the lifeline of her art.

“In a style as clear, eloquent, and evocative as the paintings of its heroine, Lois Ann Abraham’s historical novel follows the life of a woman fiercely committed to overcoming the suffocating social restrictions of her times as she pursues her dreams. Deborah careens from one tragic turn to the next, but despite a world of heartache, she never wavers from her conviction that the creative act is its own form of salvation. Abraham’s novel reminds us that to live is to love, lose, and endure, but to live well requires the unwavering courage to be true to one’s self.” —Michael Spurgeon, Director, Borchard Foundation Center on Literary Arts

Author Lois Ann Abraham retired from teaching in the English department of American River College. Her previous books are Circus Girl and Other Stories and the novel, Tina Goes to Heaven.