The Harvest Ball (Paperback)

<p>It is the height of the Gilded Age, and class lines divide society. Sheltered country girl Valena Mears experiences the passion-and heartache-of first love with dashing aristocrat Rane Benigh, who asks for her hand shortly after their first meeting at the Harvest Ball. When Rane's father vows to disinherit him should he marry beneath his class, Rane chooses wealth over love and rescinds his offer of marriage. Though devastated, Valena summons the strength to go forward, and takes a position as lady's maid to wealthy town matron Mrs. Grange. In the Grange household, Valena is befriended (and courted) by the amiable son James, and resented by the spoiled and coldly beautiful daughter Merielle whom Valena learns is now betrothed to Rane Benigh. As her heart begins to heal, Valena is guided by friends and family, and her own resolve, to a fulfilling new purpose that may also, in time, prepare her to love again. Along the way, she is courted by both James Grange and the town's charming Dr. Brent. Yet always her heart is pulled back to Rane Benigh until an unexpected and alarming encounter shakes her faith in her ability to love in full and causes her to question her very right to be loved. </p><p>This lush Gilded Age romance recounts the trials of Valena Mears completely in verse! Lynda Ann Schumacher's poetry vividly captures the bittersweet coming-of-age of one young woman and the future she creates for herself.</p>