Editor's note: This is one of three books that are historical novels mixed with a little romance by authors with Utah ties.
"WAKING IN TOMBSTONE," by Marilyn Brown, Walnut Springs Press, $17.99, 245 pages (f)
Libby Campbell has to escape Kansas City and her sadistic employer in "Waking in Tombstone" by Utah author Marilyn Brown, who populates her novel with a fascinating cast of characters who live and love in the wild frontiers of Arizona.
The recent death of Libby's mother has opened new evil in Libby's master Jacob Stuyvesant, and she knows she has to run. Finding a small bag of Stuyvesant’s gold coins, Libby feels she has finally been given a chance for a better life. And she feels especially blessed when she receives unexpected help from the kindly preacher Cotter.
Her only fear is the tall, dark and lanky Mr. Grenville, an associate of her former employer. Somehow she has to avoid his piercing eyes and uncanny run-ins as she travels from Kansas to Arizona to make a clean getaway from her past.
The characters are believable, and many have some basis in historical fact. Brown’s research into the history of Tombstone gives the fictional and real figures in the story the aura of truth. Drawing on historical records and actual events, Brown inserts Libby and her kindly benefactor, Cotter, into the middle of feuds, robberies and disasters during the early days of settlement in the Southwest.
Everyone is on edge in Tombstone, Arizona, in the aftermath of the O.K. Corral shootout. Libby only wants a safe place to live, but she begins to develop confusing feelings for her new friend. Cotter’s greatest desire is to build a church and bring peace to the people of the town. If he is successful, he believes he can return home and be with the sweetheart he knew in his youth. But the feud between the Earps and the cowboys led by Ike Clanton threatens to destroy everything Cotter and Libby hope to achieve.
“Waking in Tombstone” is a wonderful story that examines the lives of some very interesting people. Each character has personality and rings true to the actual events from the time period. The relationship between Cotter and Libby is tender and sweet and results in a positive ending that readers can appreciate.
There isn't any swearing. It is a town on the edge of civilization and there is some violence, but it is only generally described. The story includes some general references to sexual abuse in Libby's past, and a few of Libby's new friends in Tombstone are prostitutes, but nothing is detailed.
Mike Whitmer lives in West Valley City and blogs at blogs at mtwhitmer.blogspot.com. His email is grundelwalken@gmail.com.