A great taste of the old frontier |
I am not an avid book reader but I very much enjoyed this book. It is set in and told in a very real manner. It is one of
the few books that I have read to the last page.
the few books that I have read to the last page.
Description: Kathryn, a backwoods woman, and the young Indian girl, Shanna, have a
connection: love for an infant. Set in about 1885, give or take, on the borders of Arkansas,
Louisiana and Texas, with travels to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), complex characters
tangled with kidnapping, murder and romance add a height of tension to this suspenseful
telling of the difficult roads traveled between two women bridged by love.
| From Amazon.com Reviewer: Philip Mckenna (Georgia USA) - See all my reviews |
Reviewed by Bonnie Flouhouse
St, Anne, IL
Patricia Lieb's "Bridged by Love" is a historical novel set in Texarkana in the late 1880s. It's the story of two
women--Shanna (a young Indian woman trying to evade ruthless white men) and Kathryn (a strong white
woman willing to take on any opponent).
Several people, but most importantly an infant, tie the women's lives.
The fast plot is at times too coincidental, but it ensnares the reader in the story of these women.
To build suspense, the author presents segments of one character's story, stops at a crucial moment, and then
moves to the other character's struggles.
Because the only way to connect Shanna and Kathryn is to show how several men are involved in their lives,
several episodes involved only these men. Liberal doses of danger, treachery, intrigue, and romance fill the
book.
Eventually Lieb untangles everyone and brings closure to the storylines. Numerous predictable stock
characters add to the local color of the book: the slick swindler, the traveling prostitute, the ignorant guy who'll
do anything for a few coins, the prejudiced business owner, the liberal man who thinks Indians are mistreated,
the fiercely strong pioneer woman, the decent man who patiently waits for his chance at love, and displaced
Indians. Add a ruthless tavern owner and a young man willing to face all foes for the woman he loves, and the
character list is complete.
In an attempt to capture the aura and lifestyles of a past time, Lieb has crowded lost of characters and details
into her book. But over all, "Bridged by Love" is a fast read good for a summer afternoon's enjoyment.
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From Amazon.Com Reviewer:
Paul S. Brittain (Scottdale, PA USA) - See all my reviews
Bridged By Love was a pleasant surprise for someone whose readings usually tend to science fiction
and horror. But Patricia Shipp Lieb grabbed my attention from the first page and held it throughout this
well-crafted novel, weaving twists, turns and surprises. Female protagonists Shanna and Kathryn are
connected through the love of baby Aaron, who is the center of this saga. Both strong in resolve,
Shanna is a native American Indian and Kathryn is a frontier woman who together triumph over the
schemes of a number of unscrupulous men. The author's attention to detail brought the old southwest to
life as she deftly blended the passages of her many characters. I am honored to have had the
opportunity to read and review this book, and highly recommend it to someone who is seeking a
different kind of story that is based on a long gone historic era. I look forward as well to other readings
of books by Patricia Lieb.
From the Tampa Tribune
"Bridged by Love," by Patricia Shipp Lieb - Spring Hill resident Lieb has written a historical adventure
set in the late 1880s in Texarkana, a city that straddles the Texas-Arkansas line. Lieb draws on a
bounty of historical knowledge to craft a tale of two women - one native American, the other white -
linked together in a fight against injustice.
Paul S. Brittain (Scottdale, PA USA) - See all my reviews
Bridged By Love was a pleasant surprise for someone whose readings usually tend to science fiction
and horror. But Patricia Shipp Lieb grabbed my attention from the first page and held it throughout this
well-crafted novel, weaving twists, turns and surprises. Female protagonists Shanna and Kathryn are
connected through the love of baby Aaron, who is the center of this saga. Both strong in resolve,
Shanna is a native American Indian and Kathryn is a frontier woman who together triumph over the
schemes of a number of unscrupulous men. The author's attention to detail brought the old southwest to
life as she deftly blended the passages of her many characters. I am honored to have had the
opportunity to read and review this book, and highly recommend it to someone who is seeking a
different kind of story that is based on a long gone historic era. I look forward as well to other readings
of books by Patricia Lieb.
From the Tampa Tribune
"Bridged by Love," by Patricia Shipp Lieb - Spring Hill resident Lieb has written a historical adventure
set in the late 1880s in Texarkana, a city that straddles the Texas-Arkansas line. Lieb draws on a
bounty of historical knowledge to craft a tale of two women - one native American, the other white -
linked together in a fight against injustice.
| From the Daily Journal, Kankakee, IL Historical novel good, fast read for summer afternoon |
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| By Patricia Lieb |
Book Cover Quote:
"Patricia Lieb delivers a tale of love and heartbreak, strength and passion in this character-driven tale of two
women. Shanna and Kathryn will touch your heart and leave behind their fingerprints in Bridged By Love."
Bridged By Love by Patricia Lieb is aptly titled, and represents the connection between a young Native
American girl who was kidnapped by an abusive white man, and a strong, independent western woman who
makes her living as a lumberjack.
Reviewed by Bea
WritersWall.com
4 pens out of 5
Valerie J. Patterson, award-winning author of Gee Whiz Meets S.H.A.F.T
The book opens with a day in Shanna's tortured life with Jake Minor—her owner—the man who stole her from
her family when she was just a young girl. He uses her as a slave, as a whore for his friends, and as a means
of pleasure for himself. To use a trite and overworked cliché, what doesn't kill Shanna serves only to make her
stronger and more resolved to find her way back to her people—back to her family.
Shanna—a full nine months pregnant—puts a plan into motion and leaves the fish camp where she's been a
captive for years, but she must constantly keep one eye on the way before her and one eye on the way behind
her. She can't risk being caught and brought back to the fish camp—to a way of life that only brought her pain
and suffering. It's shortly after her escape that she gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. All alone and with no
safe haven to run to, Shanna forges on ahead in her goal of finding the one woman she hopes can help her.
Kathryn Williams is no stranger to pain and heartache, either. A failed marriage. A miscarriage. A divorce
during a time when it was virtually unheard of. And a life that's lonely for a woman who truly wants a husband
and a family. Kathryn has much support in her life. Her mother resides with her plus there are several people
who love and protect her. There's one man who's loved her all her life. There's another Kathryn loves and
wants to share the rest of her life. One knows her pain. The other knows she's divorced and is allowing that
to stand in his way. One wants nothing more than to shower her with affection. The other can't seem to see
past her strength and independence. Kathryn's heart has room for both men in different ways.
When Shanna crosses paths with Kathryn, she immediately places her trust—as well as her son—in Kathryn's
hands. Shanna knows men are coming for her to take her back to the fish camp. She knows her son will not
survive in that type of environment. If only she could get to the land where her people have relocated—to
where her family is—she'll finally find peace and happiness. But peace and happiness have a price for a
woman on the run. Shanna must leave behind her son.
When Kathryn's ex-husband, Alex returns, Kathryn immediately suspects he's up to no good. Shanna knows
Alex as well, and knows for a fact he's up to no good. When Alex promises to take Shanna to the land of her
people, she has no choice but to go with him. She walks away from Kathryn and from her son, and endures
more mistreatment from Alex during the journey to her family. Soon after her departure, her son—now named
Aaron by Kathryn—takes ill. Out of desperation, Kathryn takes the baby, hitches up a wagon, and heads out
to find Shanna, knowing the young woman was the only one who could provide what Aaron needed.
The journeys both women take are riveting, pulling the reader right into their stories. You can't help but cheer
each on to happiness and the futures they deserve. If this reviewer had any complaints it would be that the
man Kathryn chooses is not worthy of her. He's too caught up in the reveries of another woman, in the fact
that Kathryn can provide for herself and doesn't need a man to make her a woman, and doesn't truly get past
her past to love her in the way she deserves to be loved.
If you're looking for a book that brings you history, a hint or two of mystery, romance, and good strong
characters that you'll willingly love and dislike then Bridged By Love by Patricia Lieb is the book for you. Leave
your cares behind and travel inside the lives of Shanna and Kathryn. Their stories will stay with you long after
you turn the last page.
CADDO LAKE
Louisiana Arkansas Texas
Swamp Country
Photo By Patricia Lieb
Louisiana Arkansas Texas
Swamp Country
Photo By Patricia Lieb
Young Texarkana proved fertile ground for author of historical novel
Lieb found research invaluable in writing about area’s early days
By: Aaron Brand - Texarkana Gazette - Published: 07/12/2009
For one writer who grew up in Texarkana, the city’s early days were fertile ground for a historical novel.
Patricia Lieb once called Texarkana, Ark., home as a member of Arkansas High School’s class of 1960, growing up
with the maiden name Shipp and rooting for the Hogs.
From there, Lieb, now a Florida resident, became a writer who has won awards for her reporting and has seen her
books published, the latest of which is called “Bridged by Love,” a historical novel set in Texarkana circa 1886 and
recently published by Asylett Press.
Lieb chose as her heroines two young women who become friends trying to survive as Texarkana, in its infancy, is
growing: Kathryn, a divorced lumberjack who lives with her mother and is in love with a man while another has
fallen in love with her; and Shanna, a Native American woman who escapes life as a slave and has a newborn son
to care for as she tries to return to her family in Indian Territory.
“Texarkana is the main area. That’s where Kathryn takes her wood to the sawmill, which is a fictitious sawmill in
Texarkana,” said Lieb. The man she loves is a bookkeeper in town, while her business partner is in love with her.
“She comes in practically every day with logs with her partner Leonard.”
Lieb, armed with information from a Texarkana friend (Wayne Adcock) and the Museum of Regional History,
pictures Texarkana in its early days. Though she grew up here, she needed to research.
“I read as much as I could about Texarkana. Even though I lived there, it wasn’t 1886,” she said.
She writes in one passage about the town’s connection to the railroad: “Texarkana had grown profusely since
becoming incorporated some 10 or so years ago—to the tune of about 8,000 people, give or take. Most of the
growth was due to the building of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which ran parallel with Front Street on the south
end of town. Then came an abundance of other train lines, thus generating much business to the twin cities.”
Elsewhere, she pictures the hustle and bustle on a young Broad Street: “This, like other streets in town, seemed to
grow bigger every day with businesses booming from all corners. Tall brick and stucco buildings blocked the
western horizon. People, horses, cotton carts, milk wagons and horse trolleys paraded like cow herds.”
Part of her research involved investigating old newspaper clips to get a feel for the time. Some of those stories
made it into the book, she said, such as one tale about a man being arrested for branding his teenage wife or
Texarkana growing to a size where it needed its own police force, Lieb said.
As a writer, she sought to imagine herself in the setting.
“I love history and I love writing, and I think I just felt the earth, the ground. I just felt myself in that period when I
wrote that book ... as I wrote the book I could see everything,” said Lieb.
But it’s the characters who are the focus of her historical novel, picturing two independent women at a time when
they didn’t have a lot of power.
“Most of the time women are strong. A lot of them just don’t know it,” said Lieb. “Kathryn needed to be strong
because of the life she was living, and Shanna was strong because of the life she was forced into.”
Lieb said the inspiration for Kathryn and the plot itself came from her family’s history.
She said when her grandma was a young woman, a family member had a child with a Native American girl and the
child was raised by Lieb’s grandmother and great-grandmother. In “Bridged by Love,” Shanna must leave her
young baby with Kathryn while she journeys to find her family.
Lieb imagined her grandmother at age 27 with a fiery personality and how these characters would have felt at the
time in this kind of situation.
“That’s what inspired the plot,” said Lieb, who was a reporter and features writer for The Suncoast News in New
Port Richey, Fla. She covered the crime beat for the Daily Sun-Journal in Brooksville, Fla., and wrote for two Illinois
papers, the Daily Journal and Bourbonnais Herald.
“I started writing for detective magazines,” said Lieb. Her “Murders in the Swampland” is a book of true crime
reporting from Hernando County, Fla.
Married at 24, she’d only worked in factories until then but her husband encouraged her to write. After her
husband passed away at age 42, Lieb figured what she knew how to do was write. She started at a Kankakee, Ill.,
newspaper and went from there.
She says she feels lucky in her writing career. She didn’t think she was smart enough to be a news reporter but
she’s been honored for her work.
“I’m doing what I love to do,” said Lieb.
Lieb found research invaluable in writing about area’s early days
By: Aaron Brand - Texarkana Gazette - Published: 07/12/2009
For one writer who grew up in Texarkana, the city’s early days were fertile ground for a historical novel.
Patricia Lieb once called Texarkana, Ark., home as a member of Arkansas High School’s class of 1960, growing up
with the maiden name Shipp and rooting for the Hogs.
From there, Lieb, now a Florida resident, became a writer who has won awards for her reporting and has seen her
books published, the latest of which is called “Bridged by Love,” a historical novel set in Texarkana circa 1886 and
recently published by Asylett Press.
Lieb chose as her heroines two young women who become friends trying to survive as Texarkana, in its infancy, is
growing: Kathryn, a divorced lumberjack who lives with her mother and is in love with a man while another has
fallen in love with her; and Shanna, a Native American woman who escapes life as a slave and has a newborn son
to care for as she tries to return to her family in Indian Territory.
“Texarkana is the main area. That’s where Kathryn takes her wood to the sawmill, which is a fictitious sawmill in
Texarkana,” said Lieb. The man she loves is a bookkeeper in town, while her business partner is in love with her.
“She comes in practically every day with logs with her partner Leonard.”
Lieb, armed with information from a Texarkana friend (Wayne Adcock) and the Museum of Regional History,
pictures Texarkana in its early days. Though she grew up here, she needed to research.
“I read as much as I could about Texarkana. Even though I lived there, it wasn’t 1886,” she said.
She writes in one passage about the town’s connection to the railroad: “Texarkana had grown profusely since
becoming incorporated some 10 or so years ago—to the tune of about 8,000 people, give or take. Most of the
growth was due to the building of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which ran parallel with Front Street on the south
end of town. Then came an abundance of other train lines, thus generating much business to the twin cities.”
Elsewhere, she pictures the hustle and bustle on a young Broad Street: “This, like other streets in town, seemed to
grow bigger every day with businesses booming from all corners. Tall brick and stucco buildings blocked the
western horizon. People, horses, cotton carts, milk wagons and horse trolleys paraded like cow herds.”
Part of her research involved investigating old newspaper clips to get a feel for the time. Some of those stories
made it into the book, she said, such as one tale about a man being arrested for branding his teenage wife or
Texarkana growing to a size where it needed its own police force, Lieb said.
As a writer, she sought to imagine herself in the setting.
“I love history and I love writing, and I think I just felt the earth, the ground. I just felt myself in that period when I
wrote that book ... as I wrote the book I could see everything,” said Lieb.
But it’s the characters who are the focus of her historical novel, picturing two independent women at a time when
they didn’t have a lot of power.
“Most of the time women are strong. A lot of them just don’t know it,” said Lieb. “Kathryn needed to be strong
because of the life she was living, and Shanna was strong because of the life she was forced into.”
Lieb said the inspiration for Kathryn and the plot itself came from her family’s history.
She said when her grandma was a young woman, a family member had a child with a Native American girl and the
child was raised by Lieb’s grandmother and great-grandmother. In “Bridged by Love,” Shanna must leave her
young baby with Kathryn while she journeys to find her family.
Lieb imagined her grandmother at age 27 with a fiery personality and how these characters would have felt at the
time in this kind of situation.
“That’s what inspired the plot,” said Lieb, who was a reporter and features writer for The Suncoast News in New
Port Richey, Fla. She covered the crime beat for the Daily Sun-Journal in Brooksville, Fla., and wrote for two Illinois
papers, the Daily Journal and Bourbonnais Herald.
“I started writing for detective magazines,” said Lieb. Her “Murders in the Swampland” is a book of true crime
reporting from Hernando County, Fla.
Married at 24, she’d only worked in factories until then but her husband encouraged her to write. After her
husband passed away at age 42, Lieb figured what she knew how to do was write. She started at a Kankakee, Ill.,
newspaper and went from there.
She says she feels lucky in her writing career. She didn’t think she was smart enough to be a news reporter but
she’s been honored for her work.
“I’m doing what I love to do,” said Lieb.