Elaine Marie Cooper Author

Historical Fiction That Grabs Your Heart and Feeds Your Soul

Historical Fiction

Less Than a Week to LAUNCH!

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Book launch for Fields of the Fatherless is less than one week away! Next Tuesday, all systems will be “GO!” at Amazon!

I have been so blessed by the reviews that pre-readers are posting at Goodreads. Here are a few snippets:

 

Elaine Marie Cooper has done a great job in Fields of the Fatherless portraying the culture and events of the time. While the main characters and their stories are fictional, many of the events and places which served as the basis for the story did occur.

Elaine takes us directly into the emotions of fear and disbelief as Betsy’s world is turned upside down by war. Her emotions show her both honest and strong as she faces an uncertain future forever shaped by what she witnesses. Struggling to make sense of the horrors of war, she discovers a truth greater than death and hating.

—  Angela Meyer, Author of Where Hope Starts

 

 

What I experienced in reading Fields of the Fatherless was an engrossing, heart-wrenching read with characters that grabbed my heart and a wonderful historical tale, suitable to be shared with the entire family, the sort of book grandmothers can confidently pass on to their granddaughters.

What makes this story special is that it is based upon true accounts of an actual battle and its aftermath in the small village of Menotomy, Massachusetts, at the start of the Revolutionary War. Ms. Cooper makes history come alive in a first person account told through the eyes of real-life Betsy Russell. Betsy was a teenager when this significant, but little told, battle in our country’s fight for independence took place, and she makes for an endearing character.

— Lisa Norato, Author of Prize of my Heart

 

 

Elaine Cooper captures the essence of what it was like to live during the opening days of the Revolutionary War. Her research about this little known battle takes the reader to Betsy’s side as she sees horrors, love, and a personal journey of hatred and forgiveness in this amazing story. Fields of the Fatherless is a snapshot of history everyone should read.

                                                                        —  Peter Leavell, Author of Gideon’s Call

 

 

 

 

You can Pre-order Felds of the Fatherless by clicking here.

 

 

 Or join me for my book launch on Facebook, Tuesday, October 22. It’s all online so no travel necessary!

Click here  for Facebook Launch Page.

Preface to “Fields of the Fatherless”

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Fields of the Fatherless is the story of the beginning of the American Revolution in Menotomy Village, Massachusetts. While fiction, it is filled with facts. And it reveals that there is much about that first day of the War that many are not aware.

While the sacrifice of the few who fell in Lexington and Concord is written about in our history books, the worst battle took place in Menotomy as the British troops withdrew to Boston. By the time the King’s Army reached Menotomy, just six miles from Boston, they were exhausted, angry, and out of control. The brutal onslaught that occurred in my hometown—for this is the town I grew up in—brought more casualties on both sides than anywhere else that fateful day. It was a story from our history that begged to be told.

Here is the preface from Fields of the Fatherless.

 

Preface

 April 19, 1775

 

 

Betsy Russell could not discern if the sweat on her palms was from her own fear or from the intensity of Anna’s pain. Either source seemed a sufficient cause of the slippery pool of moisture.

Betsy, the only daughter of Jason Russell, trembled at the events occurring outside on the nearby road as well as in the birthing room. She intertwined her fingers with those of her sister-in-law so tightly that Anna’s labor pains seemed to course through her own arms.

Anna screamed as a contraction gripped her swollen belly. Betsy clung to her as if she could take away the pain with the pressure of her grip. But before the pain ebbed, another sonorous blast of cannon fire echoed from hundreds of rods down the hill. The concussion reverberated throughout the house, and the walls shuddered along with the women’s nerves. Even the midwife, normally a pillar of calm, turned pale.

Betsy desperately fought back fearful tears.

Why did Father not come with us?

She remembered his comforting hand on her shoulder the night he first said he was meeting with the patriot committee. He smiled at her then. All seemed as it should be with the world. But that seemed so long ago…

Another round of explosives elicited uncontrollable shivering.

Where is he now when I need his reassuring presence? Dear Lord, protect him.

The women in the room jumped when an enormous volley of musket fire rattled from the direction of Concord Road. Betsy doubted the pain-filled screams she heard were only in her imagination.

Father in heaven, this cannot be happening. How did we get to this terrible place? Dear Lord…help us.

 

 

Fields of the Fatherless releases October 22. To pre-order a copy, click here. 

“Trusting in God, to stand up in our own defense.”

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About a month before the battle in Menotomy Village, Massachusetts in 1775, the Reverend Samuel Cooke preached a sermon to the Minutemen of that small town. Many excerpts from that sermon, taken from the minister’s hand written notes and transcribed by Samuel Abbot Smith in West Cambridge 1775  (published by the Arlington Historical Society) are quoted in Fields of the Fatherless.

 

My friend and fellow author, Tammy Doherty, took one of those quotes from Reverend Cooke and produced this memorable photo.

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Book Review 3 – Fields of the Fatherless

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In just a little over two weeks, Fields of the Fatherless will be released. To say that I am excited is an understatement. To say that I am heartened and overwhelmed by the reviews appearing on Goodreads from advance readers is absolutely true. And I am so very grateful for each and every one. Here is another review:

After reading this epic tale, I immediately sat down to write my review. I had to get it down while this story was fresh in my mind.

I am totally spent after reading Fields of the Fatherless, all my emotions are either at the surface, or have spilled over. Elaine Marie Cooper has truly shown what it was like during this terrible time in history. I found myself vividly envisioning such unthinkably, vivid scenes, yet I kept reading because I needed to ‘witness’ it until the end.

I appreciate Elaine’s writing so much, as she doesn’t hold anything back. She not only tells the story, but she ‘shows’ the story through her words.

This story is based on fact and Elaine did a great job incorporating her own imagination into it all.

I simply love this quote from the story…it spoke to my heart.
“T’would not have mattered, if I had died doing the right thing.”
She paused. “If I did not do the right thing, it would mean something
inside my soul had died. Nothing is worth that. Not even my life.”

Such powerful words and so true.

Whether you are a history buff or simply enjoy a great novel, I highly recommend this book to you. You will find yourself totally immersed in the time…..and find yourself learning a very important lesson in forgiveness and what if truly means to show compassion and love to everyone…including your enemies.

Thank you, Elaine, for writing this story. And thank you for including your Author’s note. It added to the impact of this story.

I was allowed to read this story in advance in exchange for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review.

 

Thank you, Deborha Mitchell!

Fields of the Fatherless – Book Review 2

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It is now less than three weeks until Fields of the Fatherless releases. I have been so humbled and honored by the reviews at Goodreads. Here is one of them from a pre-release reader:

 

Fields of the Fatherless is an engaging fictionalized retelling of a true historical event. The author skillfully wove the facts together with her characters giving the story a richness many historical reenactments lack. The addition of fictional, yet authentic-looking, diary snippets “authored” by Betsy Russell rounds out her personality, making her more accessible and genuine to the reader. Ms. Cooper doesn’t play down the bloodiness of colonial war—instead many scenes are told in grim, honest detail sharing the horrors as well as the victories. We are given glimpse into the heart of man, the goodness and the ugliness on both sides of the battle. I’ve read many fictionalized biographies—and this one is right up there with the best. I highly recommend it.

— April McGowan, Author, “Jasmine”

 

Thank you, April McGowan!

 

If you’d like to pre-order Fields of the Fatherless, you can order it by clicking here.

  
(Photo of Re-Enactors at the Jason Russell House courtesy of Thomas Deitner)

Book Review: Fields of the Fatherless

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It is only three weeks and two days until Fields of the Fatherless releases. A PDF copy of the book was sent to dozens of pre-readers for reading and reviewing. Several are already posted on Goodreads. Here is one:

Ms. Cooper’s Fields of the Fatherless can be summed up in one word–Wow! As an author, I enjoy the research I do to make my novels as true to the era I write as possible. But Ms. Cooper has gone above and beyond the norm, taking a small thread from an historic era and transforming it into an intense read. And by intense I don’t mean the shoot ’em up scenes from a Jason Statham move. I’m talking intense as to actually smelling the fear and grief her heroine does throughout the entire novel.

The story begins with Betsy’s ears ringing from her sister-in-law’s agonizing screams during child birth, and from the roar of gunfire and cannons outside her door. The British are storming through her hometown and the male townsfolk are ready to defend their land and country from England, including Betsy’s crippled father. Ms. Cooper than takes the reader back a few months where Betsy struggles to make sense of the impending war, where she fears for the well-being of her family and her neighbors, where she has an urgent need to possess some type of weapon to help keep safe everything and everyone she loves, including herself. Where she falters in her relationship with God to understand right from wrong, love from hate, and most of all, forgiveness.

Without the gruesome visual of battle depicted in Saving Private Ryan, Ms. Cooper gives just enough description to allow the reader to imagine on his own the ravages of war. Chilling in reality, Fields of the Fatherless precisely conveys the devastating effects of war on both sides and how, as humans, we must band together to protect what is most precious–life. As you cheer, weep, cringe, pray and even learn, you’ll come away from this novel with the same feeling as I did–Wow!

***Note–This book will be available for purchase in October 2013. I received an advanced copy from the publisher to write this review.

 

Thank you, Julie Lence! I am so honored by this review! If you’d like to pre-order Fields of the Fatherless, you can do so by clicking here