A Proper Pursuit

From Publishers Weekly Christy award-winning historical novelist Austin delivers her strongest offering yet, a coming-of-age story set in late-19th-century Illinois. The great strength of this novel comes from the first-person narrator's charming voice: 20-year-old Violet Hayes is distressed to learn that her father is remarrying-and that her mother, whom Violet believed lay recovering from a mysterious illness in a sanitarium somewhere, had in fact simply abandoned her family and filed for divorce. To escape a stepmother-to-be she can't stand, Violet heads to Chicago to stay with her grandmother and great-aunts. Although she's recently graduated from a genteel school for young ladies, it's in Chicago that Violet's real education begins. One great-aunt tries to persuade her to join the suffrage movement, while another introduces Violet to elite society and urges her to catch a wealthy husband. Her grandmother, who takes her cues from Jane Addams, introduces Violet to the world of revivalist Christianity and inner-city good works, prompting Violet to re-examine her own faith. Two questions drive the plot: will Violet find her mother, and will she encounter true love? Readers will enjoy accompanying Violet as she discovers the answers, her calling and her adult self. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. "A Woman's Place is not to be confused with a simple read, heartwarming though it is. Readers will be drawn immediately into the setting by Austin's keep ability to weave story with fact, but it is the deep questions each woman must ask that will keep the pages turning.""Austin always writes with impeccable skill and careful insight; her well-drawn, multifaceted characters and a thought-provoking plot will keep readers glued to this wartime tale. Highly recommended for all collections.""In an engrossing read, three-time Christy Award-winner Austin (All She Ever Wanted; Hidden Places) explores the lives of four women...all in all, Austin offers a very enjoyable journey...." It seems a perfect backdrop for what Violet Hayes longs to experience: a little mystery, a little romance.To be honest, it is more than a little mystery. She schemed her way to Chicago to discover the mother she barely remembered. As for romance--well, with the help of her grandmother and three great aunts, that is coming along nicely as well--perhaps too well. Each of her relatives--including her saintly grandmother--seems to have a separate agenda for her.In the course of a summer, Violet's world will open wide before her eyes. But in the wake of discovery, she must find a way to determine which path--and which man--will ultimately be the right lifetime choice for her.A Christy Award Winner Lynn Austin has sold more than one and a half million copies of her books worldwide. A former teacher who now writes and speaks full-time, she has won eight Christy Awards for her historical fiction. One of those novels, Hidden Places , has also been made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie. Lynn and her husband have raised three children and make their home in western Michigan. Learn more at www.lynnaustin.org. Read more