Night Fires in the Distance Series by Sarah Goodwin

Laura and her husband William Deene have come a long way, from England to Ohio to Indian Territory. With their farm failing and Laura expecting her fourth child, their relationship begins to disintegrate and with another cruel winter coming on, Will’s mistrustful and violent nature becomes more apparent.Laura finds relief in the arms of their new neighbour, a young man of wealthy providence setting up as a lone homesteader; James Clappe... moreLaura and her husband William Deene have come a long way, from England to Ohio to Indian Territory. With their farm failing and Laura expecting her fourth child, their relationship begins to disintegrate and with another cruel winter coming on, Will’s mistrustful and violent nature becomes more apparent.Laura finds relief in the arms of their new neighbour, a young man of wealthy providence setting up as a lone homesteader; James Clappe. Attracted to Clappe’s youth, kindness and naiveté, Laura struggles to maintain her stoic tolerance of the hard prairie life she has endured for so long.Clappe is not all he seems however. Beneath worn clothes and layers of dirt, is a young socialite fleeing her husband, brought to the prairie by fear and grief. The last thing on earth she expects, is to fall for a lonely prairie wife almost double her age – but it could be the thing that saves her. less

It is a long, hard journey from Indian Territory to Minnesota, but one that Laura and Cecelia are determined to make. Carrying with them the secrets and losses of the prairie, both women must fight to succeed in the lawless male world of the northern lumber camps. As winter prowls the pine forest and the darkening days draw in, Laura and Cecelia can at last be at home together in the wild woods... moreIt is a long, hard journey from Indian Territory to Minnesota, but one that Laura and Cecelia are determined to make. Carrying with them the secrets and losses of the prairie, both women must fight to succeed in the lawless male world of the northern lumber camps. As winter prowls the pine forest and the darkening days draw in, Laura and Cecelia can at last be at home together in the wild woods. For Tom and Rachel, Laura’s surviving children; the forest brings new possibilities, and new dangers. Coming to terms with the past slowly opens their future, and as the ancient pines are felled and the land is shaped by progress, so are they shaped for the future that is to come; an America at war. Smoke Through the Pines is a novella, bridging the gap between 'Night Fires in the Distance', and Sarah Goodwin’s new novel 'One Nation Afire', to be released later this year. less