A Cinderella story set during the Dust Bowl First 50 copies are signed!
About "Sassie" - A Cinderella story set during the Dust Bowl
During the era of the 1920s-30s dustbowl and depression, imagine the ravages dumped on this poverty stricken South Dakota family. There’s Ma, Pa, the eldest daughter by two years, Leenie and seventeen year old SASSIE, a mute since birth.
Pa, they say, is not ‘apt’ while Ma tries to hold things together. The girls, with Ma’s support, went to all the school that was offered. There Sassie learned the value of a smile and a clever note. Leenie, acting as her ‘voice’ coach, taught her to mouth words slowly and carefully so friends and family could read her lips.
An abandoned farm up the road housed an itinerant named Jones. He was their steady connection to town gossip and news from the radio. The girls were suspicious of him, although Ma considered him of some value.
Ma’s half-brother, Herman, sent a letter that flipped Sassies world upside down. He wrote to say that his wife and their unborn baby died of pneumonia. Accepting her family’s suggestion that she help Herman, Sassie finds herself on a bus to Herman’s Nebraska farm, which turns out to be a ‘farm of splendor,’ quite unlike the one she left behind.
About the town, she sees it richer. Herman has money for food and is gentlemanly in manner. There is a library and librarian. There is much more, and Sassie believes there couldn’t be more until the day she acknowledges that her feelings toward Herman go beyond that of a half-uncle relationship.
Meanwhile, Jones takes Leenie to visit Sassie. It had appeared that he was doing good while all along, he was doing bad.
There’s more. We did mention this is a Cinderella story, didn’t we?
Donna Zajonc, author
Praise for Donna's book readings (click for YouTube):
"Everyone of them sang your praises, wonderful voice, kept us enthralled, good presence...on and on. ... Congratulations!" -Carl
"What a wonderful reading of Sassie! I was immediately immersed in Sassie's world and all of its challenges. Donna reads with such clarity and feeling. I went home and immediately began reading the novel." -Cynthia
Book tour:
Oaxaca, Mexico January 30, 2020
Old Stone Meeting House, Nyack, NY TBD
Morgan & York, Ann Arbor, MI TBD
Location and Date TBD, Seattle, WA TBD
Lake Ocoboji, Iowa on Wed June 17, 2020
Cover art: Sarah Innes; Photo: Mel Manis
- Send $19USD personal check to: Donna Zajonc 1020 Michigan Ave, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 USA;
- For EU orders, transfer €25 to account BE06 7340 3582 3422 with message: Sassie, your name