The Gardener's Tale
Because of his height and good looks, young gardener Tom Westerly is made a footman on a vast English estate. Although he misses the outdoors, his loss of freedom is compensated for by the house's luxuries and female servants, who find him irresistible. But when Tom unwittingly attracts the attention of his master’s daughter and rejects her advances, he lands in prison.
While awaiting hanging, Tom befriends a pickpocket who, with the aid of a high-spirited American young woman, helps him escape to the newly formed United States. There, he sets his sights on cheap land in the newly opened Ohio territory where he can return to what he does best, growing things.
With Abigail Woodbury at his side, the spirited girl who saved him in England, Tom moves west and builds a successful farm. Respected for his intelligence and hard work, he is invited to Washington D.C. to advise President Thomas Jefferson on agricultural matters. When the president appoints Tom to return to England on a special assignment, Tom must make a final, difficult choice between the old world and the new.
About Catherine McGreevy (Sacramento, California Author)
Catherine McGreevy grew up attending international schools in France, Spain, and Morocco, where she learned to appreciate other cultures as well as America’s unique democratic ideals. After majoring in Journalism with a minor in English at Brigham Young University, she worked at a group of newspapers in Los Angeles as a reporter and editor before returning to college to earn an English teaching credential.
A lifelong bookworm, Catherine loved gothic, suspense and historical novels by authors such as Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt, and Elizabeth Stewart. Now living in Northern California’s gold country, she has published several novels, including The Gardener’s Tale, Chance’s Bluff, A Place Called New Hope, and The Jewelry Case. She is currently under contract with Cedar Fort Publishing, and is working on several other novels.
Currently Catherine is president of Sacramento Suburban Writers Club and is active in other writers’ organizations, including Sisters in Crime, California Writers Club, and American Night Writers Association. You can follow Cathy on Facebook at facebook.com/cathy.mcgreevy.9 and read her blog at cathymcgreevy.wordpress.com.
