Free May B. by Caroline Rose

Martin, for pointing me toward your antiques-shop find, the reader that played such a large part in the creation of this story, and for believing that this story had to be shared.
    Molly Bolton and the rest of the Jambalaya Writers’ Conference coordinators, for seeing promise in my story.
    Dr. Jack Bedell of Southeastern Louisiana University, for including several early poems in
Louisiana Literature
magazine.
    Cheryl Matherne, principal of St. Matthew’s Episcopal School in Houma, Louisiana, for the beautiful way you supported my decision to devote myself to writing full-time, and for your love for this character.
    C. S. Neal, for capturing perfectly with your artwork the atmosphere of the book. Your cover reminds me of beloved stories from my own childhood.
    For the women who have gone before me: As Kansas historian Lilla Day Monroe said, “The world has never seen such hardihood, such perseverance, such devotion, nor such ingenuity in making the best of everything as was displayed by America’s pioneer women. Their like has never been known” (Joanna Stratton,
Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier
, Touchstone, 1982, page 21).
    My husband, Dan, and my boys, Noah and Caleb: it isn’t easy living with someone who for years chases an impossible dream. Thank you for giving me the room and time to make atry at being a writer. And always, thank you for your love. You three mean the world to me.
    And finally, my deepest gratitude to the One who binds up the brokenhearted and who extends dignity and compassion to the forgotten.

About the Author

    Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. As a girl, she danced ballet, raced through books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and put on magic shows in a homemade cape. She has taught social studies and English, and worked to instill in her students a passion for books, an enthusiasm for experimenting with words, and a curiosity about the past. She lives in New Mexico. Visit her at carolinestarrrose.com .