Jenny's Dream
by Linda Weaver Clarke
Bedside Books (an imprint of American Book Publishing Group), 2009http://www.lindaweaverclarke.com/
I Dream of Jenny
Working desperately to catch up on his unruly reviews, Critical Mick recently slumped to his keyboard and fell into a deep, exhausted slumber. Yet sleep (the experts insist) is the state in which the human mind processes experiences, forming concise summaries, cataloguing memories and distilling feeling.
In sleep, Mick hosted the title character from Linda Weaver Clarke's third installment of her family saga set in the Bear Lake Valley, Idaho. He bought Jenny Roberts lunch at the ever-popular Penny Hill pub and interviewed the young lady about her work, her hopes, and her first trip to Ireland.
This joint typically bounces patrons for wearing anything as informal as running shoes. Would Jenny Roberts have the grace and natural charm to glide past the doorman on bare feet, I wondered? As I waited in The Penny Hill at our appointed hour, I half expected this country girl to make her entrance just as author Linda Weaver Clarke described: silver combs holding in a loose bun wavy tresses the color of wheat, white work apron flapping over a blue gingham dress, a rosy blush high from relishing the wind that softly touched her cheeks.
Jenny Roberts waved a howdy the moment she passed through the old-fashioned wood and glass doors. "Sorry I'm late," the professionally-dressed young woman said with a smile that could make a red-blooded man forgive anything. Her flats, stylish pantsuit and Victoria Beckham hair were unexpected. Many surprises were to come.
Not yet twenty-one years old, Jenny Roberts has already appeared in three historical romance novels set high atop the Rocky Mountains in the innocent early days of the twentieth century. Yet it was clear as we exchanged our introductory small talk that she was no rube from the back country. "My tour group was fixin' to take a turn down that main stretch of Dublin city. I managed to slip away and find Grafton Arcade, the place with all the little stalls that sell used books, spiced olives and jewellery accessories. I found a beautiful first edition of Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane. I was so caught up, Mick, I completely lost track of the time."
Deane's novel is magnificent, poetic. It was impressive that this young lady, in her first visit to Ireland, skipped out on both high-end boutiques and her minders to spend time Reading in the Dark. I asked, was she as big a reader in real life as Clarke portrayed her? And wouldn't Jules Verne and Lewis Carroll be more her style?
"The Wordsworth and Elizabeth Barrett Browning that Will and I read to each other in the meadow that summer, falling in love?" Jenny's nose gave a mischivous wrinkle. "Why, Jenny's Dream is a story of a girl who doesn't sit still in the yesterdays. She develops into a young woman before your readin' eyes. Exploring those fields and forests, my character blazes the trail her adult life will follow- in love, in vocation and the way she sees the world."
Meaning: her tastes in reading didn't remain in the nineteenth century, either. I shouldn't have been surprised: this Jenny was no longer the child introduced in Melinda and the Wild West or the cattle-drive kid from Edith and the Mysterious Stranger. Our drinks arrived- a pint for me, while Jenny sipped a white lemonade. I used the Jalapino popper appetizers as a tasty segue. Quoting the Bible from page 15, Jenny's Dream is a novel as wholesome as Little House on the Prairie. Its faithful couples express their love by gazing deeply into each other's eyes and declaring how much they respect one another's spirited nature. The sole joy of physical contact is felt whirling at the town dance. Would Jenny have preferred a Historical Romance a little more… spicy?
"Mrs. Linda Weaver Clarke's writing is for everybody. That means, safe enough for young readers. If you're in the mood for a Susan DiPlacido or Sylvia Day, reach up to that shelf where little arms can't stretch." Bad boy that I am, I pressed the point. Would adult readers find Jenny's Dream a bit unexciting?
"Watch what you say. I've got me a double-barrelled shotgun in Chapter Eighteen, and I seldom miss."
We had a laugh. As with the outlaws or cattle rustlers of the earlier novel, Jenny's Dream does has a share of adventure. A giant grizzly named Old Half Paw stalks the forests around Bear Lake, mauling sheep and terrifying everyone except Jenny's rugged father, Gilbert Roberts.
"Is he as rugged in real life as he appears in the books?" I asked.
Jenny smiled. "Yes, 'fraid so."
"Can you give me an example?"
Art reflected real life. Jenny, in the novel, dreams of escaping rural Idaho and becoming a writer: Jenny in the Dublin's Penny Hill pub spun out a hell of a yarn. "Behind the scenes," rancher Gilbert and collegeboy Will Jones (the man who portrayed Jenny's kitten-cuddling love interest) got along as well as a pole cat and a prairie dog. For legal reasons, I cannot repeat what Jenny told me about the violent, manly confrontation behind the barn "off camera" after the two had mouthed through Linda Weaver Clarke's cordial conversation about the newfangled horseless Roadsters. Suffice to say: Will's life might never be complete.
We cackled like women at the scandal of it all until our lunches arrived. Roast beef! I tucked in, but my guest only sampled a few dainty bites. "It's not as tender as Gilbert cooks," she explained.
As I ate, Jenny elaborated on what elements of the novel reflected carefully-researched historical fact. A nut for dusty old stuff, I had found those details more interesting than whole mountain meadows full of private dance lessons. That Will, always mooning over Jenny like a love-sick calf! Ugh. Though now that I had met her, I could better understand his constant pining and whining.
That got us onto the subject of what I, as a critic, thought about the novel. I had two pet peeves: first, there was no tension to the storyline involving her and Will. It was clear as a mountain morning how the novel would end. Second, Clarke's overuse of the verb "noticed."
We both agreed on our favourite scene: Chapter Fifteen: The Drunken Unsavory Men! "The Wild West lives on!" Jenny blazed away with imaginary pistols. "Even as late as 1908, or the present day- the Wild open range is a state of mind."
What's next for the series? A familiar face from Edith and the Mysterious Stranger will make his return later on this year the fourth volume: David and the Bear Lake Monster. "My character is fixin' to grow some more," Jenny confided. To reveal just what lies ahead for Jenny, though, would spoil the ending to Jenny's Dream. I would no more do that than tell Jenny the delicious dessert she was devouring was actually full fat.
And after Clarke's series is completed? "I have a mind to try to write one, myself." About a masked girl on horseback, .45-70 Remington in hand, revenging herself against the bullies who tormented her innocent youth? "A tempting idea, Mick- I was bullied as a young 'un. But is rampagin' vengeance really my style?"
I could only hope not. My review of Jenny's Dream was so many months late, Linda Weaver Clarke would soon sic Old Half Paw on me. Or maybe that Bear Lake Monster. But Jenny thanked me for my time as we rose to go, and embraced me like an old friend.
As she did, her handbag whacked against my ribs with a heavy thud. Was that a pistol in this sweet little country girl's purse? Jenny Roberts is a woman of many surprises.
Dad blammit!!!
Critical Mick awakes with a start: If you enjoyed Linda Weaver Clarke's earlier two novels, Jenny's Dream will come true for you.
Apologies- this is another review that has taken me approximately 18 million years to write....
Read Critical Mick's November 2006 interview with Linda Weaver Clarke
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