|
This is the story of Margaret, an early l8th century woman and a few who dislike her, for reasons that haven't changed among humankind since time began
Margaret Vandenberg, the tall, plain-featured Colonial offspring of Holland immigrant, Garret Vandenberg, and his Native American wife, is standing on the threshold. The door she is about to open is midway down the corridor of her life. Reaching for the latch, she is about to leave behind many rooms that are filled with heartbreak and unswered questions only to encounter what may well be the greatest challenge of her life.
"Threads An American Tapestry" is a unique mix of New York Hudson Valley colonials, both European, African and Native American -a story that highlights their influence upon today's American culture.
As with my two other novels (Manhattan Seeds of the Big Apple and The Diary of a Northern Moon) the recently published "Threads An American Tapestry" the struggle as well as the triumph of the unsung American is at the heart of my story.
Gloria Waldron Hukle can be reached at ghukle.nycap.rr.com
Excerpt
The farm, as Margaret refers to her holdings, encompasses field, glen and forest of a three thousand acre parcel;a section of the New York colony that defines a good portion of the seemingly endless banks of the rich bottom land of the upper North River valley. The Vandenberg property supports an active grand manor house, bake and brew house, smoke house, several barns, as well as an eight-stalled horse stable, lumber mill, and grist mill. From the fields of wheat and the waters of the river, a dark beer is brewed. The vegetable and herb garden to the rear of the manor house extends more than two hundred yards, abutting several slave cabins, and not far past is the vast apple orchard giving up fruit from trees planted fifteen years prior. For the better part, the apples are grown to be drunk. The cider produced is consumed not only on the farm, but also sold to merchants in New York City and Albany, and in recent years exported to England where the drink has received glowing reviews.
|
