A Lady Follows

For fans of westerns and romances both, A LADY FOLLOWS provides an interesting and entertaining read. The heroine, Carolina Harper, embarks upon an action-filled expedition during an exciting if often overlooked period of American history. Her journey from Missouri to Santa Fe, recounted in both narrative and journal format, parallels Carolina's own internal quest to find herself. Ms. Newman gives her readers an authentic look at life on the Santa Fe trail, with detailed description, lively action, and colorful characters...especially, Carolina's guide, the rugged mountain man-cum-philosopher, Gerard Gaspard. The story pace is leisurely, at times, making this a book to savor over several evenings. When I finally said good-bye to Carolina, I felt I was parting from a friend. Ms. Newman has used her considerable writing skills to successfully make the leap from the Regency romance genre (where I first discovered her) to women's fiction. I look forward to reading more from this talented author!

In 1846 Missouri, widow Carolina Harper decides that she must do something useful with her life after the deaths of her husband and child. In spite of being pregnant and the talk of war between Mexico and the United States, Carolina begins traveling along the Santa Fe Trail. Her destination is Santa Fe where her uncle is raising three children without their mother. The Trail is as dangerous as she has been warned by individuals trying to persuade her to forget her folly. Still, she reaches her destination, the home land of her father's family. However, just like her own divided culture, two countries apparently are ready to clash over the territory. Her own uncle, being one of the most powerful individuals in the area, plans to drive the Anglos out of New Mexico. A LADY FOLLOWS is an interesting entry in the "Woman of the West" series. The characters are well developed as both positions of the sides in the upcoming Mexican-American War are brilliantly explained without prejudice. Readers accompanying Carolina and her cohorts on their trek along the Santa Fe Trail will feel the danger as much as if they were there (or at least simulating it through the computer game). However, the pace is knocked off kilter by repeating each day's adventures of Carolina in her diary, thereby causing several unnecessary painful detours to a well-designed story line. Fans of American romance should skip the diary passages (as this reviewer eventually did), which leads to an entertaining reading experience.Harriet Klausner