Through Tender Thorns

In 1917 James E. Glidewell manufacturer and businessman builds a beautiful horse ranch on the outskirts of Springfield Missouri. With his fortune secure in gold bullion he spares no expense hiring a staff of diverse individuals to help him achieve his goal of owning the finest racehorses in all the Midwest. He provides his staff with meaningful jobs a place to live food to eat and medical care during the Great Depression. The Glidewell Ranch stood in sharp contrast to the rest of the country during these dismal economic times.In 1931 Maizie Freedman an unskilled blue-eyed lightly colored girl of 16 arrives at the Glidewell ranch seeking employment after her mothers untimely death. Appearing hungry and somewhat lost Mary Glidewell hires Maizie to work as her office assistant. Maizie eager and talented is taught many new skills which helps her develop a feeling of self- worth and security. She writes in a diary expressing her feelings about her new life and the itinerant life she recalls from her past. She is confused about her heritage her mothers well-kept secrets and her growing affection for the backside manager son Capp. As Maizies childhood begins to unfold she finds hints to the mysteries of her early life on a battered map. The map seems to trace a journey from the Mississippi Delta to Springfield Missouri a journey filled with adventure hardships and insecurity which Maizie re-lives in her nightmares and foggy memories. Maizies quest to learn her truth and James dream of winning the Kentucky Derby coalesce into a fascinating narrative of intrigue the pursuit of glory and the true meaning of family.