Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.
Tell us something about where you live.
I recently moved in to a boardinghouse in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where I live with other women who work at the Army’s Camp Forrest. After having lived in an orphanage since I was four, it feels decadent to share a room with only one girl and to have a bed all my own!
Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?
My name is Leah Jones, but it isn’t really my own. My parents named me Thalia, and I believe I was named after the Greek muse of lyric poetry. When they died and I was sent to the orphanage, my name was shortened to Leah. Jones comes from the couple who adopted me, only to abandon me to another orphanage shortly thereafter. My parents’ last name was long and Greek and sounded something like “Ka-wa-los.” More than anything, I’d like to know what my name was. Maybe then I could find my baby sisters.
Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?
I work as a librarian at the Army base library at Camp Forrest. Becoming a librarian has been my dream, and I’m thrilled that it’s coming true. I love everything about my work—the books, the soldiers who are discovering the love of reading, and the chance to earn my own way. If only the books were housed in the grand glory they deserve, rather than a bland white frame building.
Who are the special people in your life?
My roommate, Darlene Franklin, is fun—although she doesn’t understand me. But the person who intrigues me most is Private Clay Paxton, who’s training with the Army Rangers. He has a kind heart and a bright mind, and he understands tragedy and loss and fractured families.
What is your heart’s deepest desire?
To find my twin baby sisters, Callie and Polly. After our parents died, I was separated from them. But I remember them dearly, and I know our parents would want me to find them. I spend my spare time at the library perusing books. Perhaps one day I’ll find a Greek name and know it’s mine. Perhaps I’ll see a photograph of a city and recognize where I came from. Then perhaps I could find my sisters.
What are you most afraid of?
Never belonging. Never having a family.
Do you have a cherished possession?
I have few possessions, so I cherish each one. With my new job, I was able to buy darling new dresses and suits and shoes to replace the charity barrel outfits from the orphanage. Someday I plan to even buy books of my own!
What do you expect the future will hold for you?
I dream of earning the money to attend library school so I can become a graduate librarian instead of only a circulation librarian. I also dream of being reunited with my sisters and recreating our family. As for love and marriage, I’m too odd to attract a man—although part of me hopes I could someday turn the head of a man like Clay Paxton. But some dreams belong in the realm of imagination alone.
What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?
My dear friend Rita Sue Bellamy told me, “Sugar, if you want to belong, you have to join.” I may or may not ever find my sisters, but I can choose to belong with the people the Lord has placed in my life. I can also help those—like the children at the orphanage at town—who don’t belong.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?
Perhaps it’s my poetic birth name, but I love to write poetry. As I told Clay, “Words make delightful playthings. They cost nothing, they never wear out, and no one can ever take them away from you.”
Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!
Blurb:
In 1943, Private Clay Paxton trains hard with the US Army Rangers at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, determined to do his best in the upcoming Allied invasion of France. With his future stolen by his brothers’ betrayal, Clay has little to live for. Leah Jones works as a librarian at Camp Forrest, longing to rise above her orphanage upbringing and to find the baby sisters she was separated from so long ago. A marriage of convenience binds Clay and Leah together, but will D-day—and a foreboding dream—tear them apart?
About the Author:
Sarah Sundin is a bestselling author of historical novels, including The Land Beneath Us, The Sky Above Usand The Sea Before Us. Her novel The Sea Before Uswon the 2019 Reader’s Choice Award from Faith, Hope, and Love, When Tides Turnand Through Waters Deepwere named to Booklist’s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years,” and Through Waters Deepwas a finalist for the 2016 Carol Awardand won the INSPY Award.A mother of three, Sarah lives in California and teaches Sunday school. She also enjoys speaking for church, community, and writers’ groups.http://www.sarahsundin.com.
Novel PASTimes 