Sydney Avey

Dynamic Women — Changing Times

Nellie Belle Makes Her Literary Debut

Jan 25, 2018 | The Trials of Nellie Belle, Writing life | 0 comments

The Trials of Nellie BelleNellie Belle is about to make her debut on the literary stage! The Trials of Nellie Belle is now available for preorder. Shipping date is February 6. I’ve listed links to the major book retailers on my website.

Other options

  • Order a copy through your favorite bookstore
  • Ask your local library to order a copy
  • If you would like me to send you a signed copy directly, send me a request through Contact on my website (the U.S. only).
  • Are you a book reviewer? Free review copies on Netgalley.

About The Trials of Nellie Belle

When her parents marry off Kansas-born Nellie Belle to the ranch foreman, she never questions that motherhood will follow. But at the dawn of the progressive era, Nellie seizes an opportunity to move west and start a new life. Yearning to achieve a sense of self-worth, Nellie leaves behind her husband and son and takes her two daughters to the Northwest. She charges forward to become the first woman court reporter to travel the circuit in the region. On her journey, she loses her daughters, one to death, and one to vaudeville.
In small-town makeshift courtrooms and growing cities boasting new halls of justice, strong-minded Nellie touches many lives; self-determined lawmen, enterprising women, hard-working immigrants, a senator, some cads, and a cross-dresser.

Nellie finds fulfillment in the hard-won respect of a tight legal community that metes out early twentieth-century justice. But when her prodigal youngest returns home with a babe in arms, she must do what she can to pull together what remains of her scattered family.

Can Nellie rescue her broken-hearted daughter, and give badly needed direction to her headstrong granddaughter who is on a path to disaster?

Endorsements

A Compelling Ride Through Four Generations

. . . captures the empowered voices of three distinct women . . . In a time when women were just coming into their own, Nellie Belle’s zest for adventure and commitment to family leave the reader with a sense of the power we each hold, to influence descendants for years to come.

—Wendy Wilson Spooner, Licentiate Genealogist, LCoT.

Portrait of an Independent Woman

. . . [who] lived on her terms in a man’s world at the turn of the century . . . rich with details of the times, including court cases where Nellie encounters colorful characters . . . We witness the thinking of the times and the decisions that shape Nellie’s life . . . creates wonder about generations who passed before.

—Caitlin Hicks, author of A Theory of Expanded Love

A Spiritual Journey

. . . Every journey is spiritual, whether we know it or not. And every decision is spiritual as well. Avey has captured four journeys filled with the consequences of choice. Consequences born of spiritual hunger mistaken for freedom. I found the unintended character of the consequences haunting. Nellie and her family offer us a mirror if we are willing to look.

—The Reverend Doctor Stephen Roosa

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