Tag: women

MYSTERY OF THE STURBRIDGE KEYS

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-001108064/Mystery-of-the-Sturbridge-Keys.aspx

front-cover

Brie is the thirteen year old protagonist of this fiction novel, at a time when a young, strong, female character is so needed in the world. She deals with individuality and relationships, and comes to realize there is only one race, the human race. She time travels to  the birth of Jesus in a stable, hears the choirs of angels sing, and babysits Jesus.

In other chapters, Brie gets captured by the Nephilim, meets Noah and his family, and travels to the Sanctuary of the Great God’s in Greece.  Her cousin Abby, Grammy Rose, and Aunt Cher share the adventures.

Brie and her family sails the Mediterranean Sea with Dodanim of Noah’s lineage, helps save the day during the Roman wheat shortage, hears Jesus first hand give the Sermon on the Mount, meets Apostles Paul and Timothy on the island of Samothrace, and learns why Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death.

Angel ChristmasWhile Brie and part of her family time travel, her remaining family is attending Old Sturbridge Village’s 70th Anniversary in 2016, featuring the Christmas By Candlelight annual celebration.  Brie’s mother, Sarah, her brother Greg and her cousin Abe, who is Abby’s twin, enjoy  a fascinating journey through the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin,  Charles Dickens, Panic of 1837, an introduction to the Rev. Adin Ballou, angels and Santa Claus; all presented in the many historic buildings that make up the Village.

The snow filled evening is complete with a Christmas turkey dinner, horse-drawn sleigh and carriage rides, a moving wall, a hidden library, a ring of antique keys, antique locked books and adventures with Bactrian camels, wolves, to allow a family to learn little known historical connections between Noah’s sons, and the Babylonian, Mede-Persian, Greek and Roman Empires.

This book is inspired by a set of large keys handed down to me from my grandfather, F.

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Pepere’s keys and tin cup made in Old Sturbridge Village

Louis Tetreault. I am sure these keys went to the farm on Blackstone Street, Mendon, Massachusetts, either to the barn, locked chests, equipment, or to the house both he and my grandmother, Maria (Benoit) Tetreault lived in. My mother is number thirteen of fourteen children. Mom, aunts, uncles and cousins, I love you all. I am so glad my Canadian French grandparents had so many children, or else I would not be here, or have had so many cousins to make my childhood so happy.

 

Or the keys might have belonged to my grandparents’ Vermont cottage or the shed on Sheldon Hill Road, with the Wardsboro Brook directly behind it, where my sister, cousins and I would brave the icy waters flowing into our tiny, dammed up swimming spot. When I was young, I would often spend weeks and months living with them in their home away from home, while my mother, as a single parent, worked full-time painting radon on watch hands so they would glow in the dark. Both my beloved grandparents have since passed away, and were very dear to me. I treasured them and everything about them, even these keys.

back-cover-copyThe book’s timely publication covers the April 20, 2016 announcement by the United States Treasury planning to put Harriet Tubman’s picture on the front of the $20 bill, moving President Andrew Jackson to the back in the year 2020. Fascinating information between President Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin is also included in this work of fiction. The names of Old Sturbridge Village including all the buildings at this place, and the Christmas by Candlelight celebration are real. However, I have never attended the Christmas by Candlelight celebration, and the adventures in this book are pure exciting fiction.

Also real names in this area are: Thai Place, Annie’s Country Kitchen, The Bird Store and More, Brimfield Antique Center, Southwick’s Zoo, McLean Hospital, Harrington Hospital, B.T.’s Smokehouse, and the Sturbridge Tourist Center.

MYSTERY OF THE STURBRIDGE KEYS ~ CHRISTMAS UNLOCKED is available at:

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-001108064/Mystery-of-the-Sturbridge-Keys.aspx

softcover / ISBN: 978-1-5320-0761-3 / $13.99

eBook / ISBN: 978-1-5320-0762-0 /  $3.99

THANK YOU For Making MYSTERY OF THE STURBRIDGE KEYS A SUCCESS

Click on the word BLOG in the upper right for the latest post.

Thank you all for the tremendous success of the début of this book. There were two bookfront-cover signings, one at Barnes and Noble Bookstores at the Shoppe at Blackstone Valley in Millbury, MA, where 20 copies of Mystery of the Sturbridge Keys sold out; and The Bird Store And More, which was another success in the month of December 2016. Online sales continue for both eBook and in soft cover.

Anyone who wants to know the real origin of Christmas will find this to be a must-read book. The subtitle of this book is, “Christmas Unlocked.” The accurate ancient history of Christmas and holiday traditions will be very enlightening for all who have an interest in this particular holiday, and wish to know how the holiday’s customs and popular traditions really got its start.

back-cover-copyPoignant to today’s critical times of a resurgence of retro-racism, one of the themes of Mystery of the Sturbridge Keys is, There is only one race, the human race.

Brie is the female protagonist of the book, in a world where the role of women in today’s society is challenged all over the world.

The quote by Plutarch is applicable to this book:

“To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days.”

Mendon, Rev. Adin Ballot and Morgan Horses In This Book

Highlights from MYSTERY OF THE STURBRIDGE KEYS to be watching out for include local landmarks, including Lake Nipmuc, Route 16 and Taft Avenue in Mendon, Massachusetts;  the Nipmuc Native American Nation. Morgan horses, the Rev. Adin Ballot, how the Quakers have been promoting women’s rights in the 1600s, and how immigration took place in the 1800s when our forefathers arrive to the United States.

The Nipmuc Native American Nation was called Nipnet. It extended south to Rhode Island, home to the Narragansett Native American Nation; north to New Hampshire and Vermont, home to the Pennacook and Wawinak Native American Nations; west to the Pocomtuc and Mohican Native American Nation; and east to the Massachusett, Wampanoag and  Nauset Native American Nations.

The greater Mendon area has numerous historical footprints of the Nipmuc Native American Nation, such as the gleaming shores of Lake Nipmuc. It was a pleasure to grow up in this area. Old Sturbridge Village is the setting of this fiction work of art. From here half of the family members in this book time travel back into history, ancient history and pre-history. They are very surprised to learn what they learn.

Horse lovers will appreciate knowing that the two fictional Morgan horses in this fiction novel, are from Figure, the real horse owned by Justin Morgan. He was a teacher, composer and horseman who lived in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was the practice in 1830 to call the horse by the owners name. Figure’s colt became the founding sire of the Morgan breed. These horses are known for their charisma and companionableness.

The Morgan horses in this story are named Gitche and Manitou. Gitche Manitou is the Native American name for Great Spirit, God. Morgan horses are also able to out walk, out run and out pull any other breed of horse, making them a perfect fit for the Old Sturbridge Village setting.

The Rev. Adin Ballot was a real person who influenced Mendon through the Mendon Unitarian Church, a sister church to Hopedale. Much of his humanitarian and religious philosophy has trickled down to this day.

The Quakers were one of the first group to promote women and women’s rights. They even allowed women to speak and teach at the Religious Society of Friends Meetinghouse. Additionally they also promoted women authors.

When it comes to immigration, this book takes a look at what the people of 1830 had to do to come to this beautiful United States of America. It is good to remember.