When Josephine Bell discovers how quickly one can descend from middle-class Victorian comfort to the slums of Liverpool, she makes a fateful decision.
Seeking escape from desperate poverty, the sixteen-year-old joins a community of kindly strangers and embarks on an epic journey across a treacherous ocean and into the North American wilderness, pulling a two-wheeled handcart over the Rocky Mountains to a remote desert kingdom.
In her new home, a Mormon settlement in the Utah Territory, Josephine is pressured into a polygamous marriage with a man almost four decades older than herself. She struggles to find her own path amidst a backdrop of rising violence and haunting tragedy.
The Gates of Eden explores the timeless mysteries of faith and doubt, fear and love through the eyes of a girl on the cusp of adulthood.
The Gates of Eden is available in ebook and print formats on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Add it to your shelves on Goodreads, and visit Nadene's website to read more about the inspiration for the book and her posts on historical research.
Need a cover designer?
Email me anytime to chat about your project!
jennyq@historicaleditorial.com
