Beverly Mader Wilson

Mara Beverly Mader Wilson

MARA is an historical novel narrated by the main character herself. It takes place in the hills of Eastern Washington and involves the development of the Palouse country as a rich farming region between the years 1891 and 1899. Mara speaks poignantly of events that take her from her early teens through the following ten years of her life. Each of the scenes is portrayed through Mara's eyes, as she passes through a variety of memorable experiences, many of which are fictional representations of actual events. The major portion of the manuscript was written when I, the author, was between the ages of nineteen and twenty four. Sitting in a grain truck during the harvest season for hours on end, it was easy for me to dream up fictional vignettes and episodes of farm life. Once written, the entire manuscript, scribbled in spiral notebooks and on loose-leaf paper, was left laying in a drawer, where it has been residing until recently. Now, sixty years later, my personal memories of persons actually living in that long ago period of time are still very clear. Having met with an accident that left me unable to do any outside work during the first part of 2017 and wishing to clear closets and drawers of their clutter, I found myself looking at the manuscript once again. Through the encouragement that I received and because of my own propensity for writing, I decided to see what could be done with it. MARA is thus historical in more ways than one! If you love the Palouse country, this book will take you there!