Hi, I’m Beth Fehlbaum, author of Courage in Patience, which will be published by Kunati in September, 2008.
Courage in Patience is a story that is close to my heart. I’ve been an English teacher for about ten years, and I’ve known kids who have left impressions on my heart that will stay with me always. The students in Courage in Patience are composites of teenagers I have known over the years.
As a teenager, I always got along well with the teachers the other kids hated. As a teacher, I am just about always able to forge a bond with all my students– even those kids who other teachers see, do the sign of the cross, and thank God that that kid is not in their class. For some reason– probably because I was a quirky, on-the-fringe-kinda-kid, too, I’m able to reach the kids whom others have deemed unreachable. You’ll find kids like that in Courage in Patience.
It was important to me, too, that the parents be more than one-dimensional, perfect authority figures. I took pains to make sure that the parents have cracks in their armor, that they hurt; that they have regrets; that they feel shame about failures in their pasts.
Courage in Patience has been described as “everyone’s story.” And I’d agree with that assessment. The main character, Ashley, has been sexually abused by her stepfather for six years. When she finally gets up the courage to tell her mother what has been happening, her mother stuns her by turning her back on Ashley. A trusted teacher convinces Ashley to report the crime, and when she does, it is then that her life begins anew.
Ashley is reunited with her father, David, whom she has not seen or spoken to since she was three months old. He takes her home, to Patience, Texas, and they begin to rebuild what they have never really had– a relationship.
While Ashley’s path to recovery is the centerpiece of the novel, woven through it are the struggles for authenticity of her classmates in a summer school English class. Among these challenges are racism, bullying, domestic violence, loneliness, facial disfigurement, and censorship.
I want to hear from you! I am committed to being accessible to my readers. I hope you’ll e-mail me at beth@bethfehlbaum.com.
Tags: Beth Fehlbaum, Courage in Patience, everyone's story, inspiring story of hope for those who have endured abus, Kunati Books
