THE JUDGE'S DAUGHTER

Foreword Reviews Awarded Five Stars To The Judge’S Daughter “This Mid-Nineteenth Century Epic Is Set In Towns Along The Mississippi River: Cape Girardeau, Mo, Memphis, Tn And New Orleans, La During The Romantic Era Of Steamboats And Gamblers. Its Many Twists And Turns Will Keep The Reader Riveted And Burning Midnight Oil With Little Pause For Breath Catching. Fanny Britton’S Determination For Freedom Becomes A Trial Of Wits With Her Just As Determined Father . . . Will Intrigue The Reader With Infidelity, Buried Revelation, And Stormy Clashes Of Hate And Forgiveness . . .” Book I, The Early Years: Seeing Marriage As An Escape From Her Widower Father, Strong Willed Fanny Britton, 17, Coerces Cousin Alex Into Elopement. It Fails. She Is Shifted Off To A Female Academy Where She Meets Her Ideal, The Debonair Mr. Joshua Devlin At A Weekly Tea Dance Held At Markham’S Female Academy Only To Learn That Her Fearless, Contentious, Chamber Mate, Beaty, Vies Gravely For His Affection. Fanny Rushes Headlong Into Romance With Mr. Devlin And Learns Too Late He Isn’T What She Thought. Deceived And Trapped By Circumstances, She Must Marry Him And Quickly Finds She Is Thrust Into A Life Her Upbringing Had Not Prepared Her For. Fanny Is Willing To Tough It Out. For Fear She Will Disgrace His Proud Name, The Judge Hires Detectives To Watch And Report Her Activities. She Married Without His Permission And Beneath Her Station; To Fix That, The Judge Secretly Annuls Her Marriage. Fanny And Devlin Remarry. Devlin’S Enormous Ambition Keeps Him On The River For Weeks While He Implements A Plan To Own A Gambling Casino, Which She Cannot Abide.Book Ii, The Latter Years: The “Honorable” Judge Gets His Tail In A Legal Crack And Flees To The Sparsely Settled Wilderness In Southeast Missouri Where He Is Unknown And Will Reinvent Himself. He Will Not Recognize Fanny’S Devlin Children. But Believing Devlin Dead, And Living In The Wilderness, He Realizes They Could Be “Britton” Boys, The Boys He Never Had. With No Means Of Support And Believing Herself A Widow, Fanny Must Go With Him Or Lose Her Boys. The Reader Will Root For Fanny And Feel Anguish When She Makes Costly Decisions. The Reader Will Uncloak The Secrets Of Mr. Devlin, Will Watch Beaty Jealously Seduce Him With Inheritance Money. The Reader Will Witness Schemes Of The Deceitful Judge, And How Perfectly The Attempted Demise Of Mr. Devlin Fits Into Beaty’S Plans. Scenes Of Heartbreak And Rally Prevail. When The Judge Tries To Take Tina, His Gypsy Dancer Mistress, Into His House, Fanny’S Woes Multiply. Auntie Iris, The Family Cook Claims The Woman Practices Voodoo, And She Threatens To Run Away. Fanny Has No Means To Save Her. She Enlists Help From Captain William Boyd, But His Price Is Too High. Devlin, Wealthy And Reformed, Returns Unaware Of His Reported Death. He Begs Fanny For Reconciliation. Because Of Nerves, She Drinks Too Much Brandy And Blames Him For The Rumor. She Still Loves Him, But He Will Not Compete With The Judge For Her Loyalty. He Issues An Ultimatum: Cut Ties With The Judge Who Has Caused All Their Problems. Devlin Loves Her But Won’T Wait Around. He Finally Divorces Her To Get On With His Life And Fanny Learns That Love Can Be A Brutal Thing. After Many Tension-Filled, Wrong Decisions, She Gears Up To Map Out Her Future. Learning That Devlin Is About To Marry A Rich Woman, She Throws Caution To The Wind And Gets Primed To Make Another Wrong Decision. Fanny Loses Before She Wins And Teeters At The Edge Of Risking All For Peace Of Mind And Self-Preservation.