NATE and KELLY is an historical fiction novel intricately weaving historical facts with a special love story.
1915.
A businessman and a prostitute find love.
And hate.
Uniquely written in the voice, tone, and perspective of September 11, 1915 yet relevant for today.
AN ASTONISHINGLY TIMELY STORY OF RESILIENCE AND HOPE SET IN 1915, the most fascinating year in the USA. Walk through a door to the past in this historical story of romance and adversity, a story relevant today. A thrilling and addictive novel.
NATE and KELLY is available as an eBook or as a paperback at Barnes and Noble, AMAZON, Walmart and other book retailers.
The United States of America faced incomprehensible horror one day shortly after the turn of the century.
There was shock, destruction, and death. War loomed. Americans veered toward either hopelessness, fear, and hate or toward vision, faith, and rebuilding.
They asked, “Could life in America ever be great again?” Some said, “No, let’s retreat to the past.” Others said, “Yes, let’s move forward.” Demagogues exploited fear, painting easy-to-identify groups as enemies to blame. There was amazing technological progress in communication, commerce, industry, and travel that disturbed some people and thrilled others. There were drastic shifts in the way people earned their living.
In the midst of these distressing times, Nate started his career. In 1915, he left his home in Baltimore, Maryland to become a manager of the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California. It was there that criminals framed him for their theft of gold coins from the Expo.
Nate fled the criminals and the corrupt police.
Kelly fled the people who murdered her mother.
When Nate and Kelly run into each other in a small town in the Central Valley of California at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, their lives become entangled with each other and with the horrible realities of hatred and evil.
They discover, as everyone does eventually, that the meaning of life is all about starting over.
NATE and KELLY is available as an eBook or as a paperback at Barnes and Noble, AMAZON, Walmart and other book retailers.
The novel has a strong, interesting narrative structure, an interesting combination of fiction and non-fiction that works well with both the broad subjects of historical significance and its very specific, illuminating love story. The novel reveals truths about our society that prevail especially today, truths about fear, racism, demagoguery, and attacks on the human spirit. It stands up and shouts that love can survive.
More than a century ago — after slavery, in the middle of Jim Crow — yet relevant for today.
- Peter: “I read NATE AND KELLY twice, and loved it! It’s a great tale”
- Sarah: “first-rate job of weaving history into the story that was thoroughly enjoyable”
- Marsha: “Best Historical Book I’ve Read”
- Pamela: “… showing how life experience can change people and how hatred can make one take a stand against the haters”
- Grady: “… this hypnotizing story NATE AND KELLY”
- Wogan: “… worthwhile as an instructive tool and as a story to read”
- Naomi: “… a well-written book”
- Curtis: “… captured my interest from the very beginning!”
- Denise: “A story of hope, betrayal, survival, and love… shocking truth about evil and prejudice.”
- Phyllis: “So well penned… makes you ponder the problems of society we live in today.”
- Kat: “I loved the historical background for this book. The love story left me wanting more.”
- Don: “Very good read. Author wrote a nice book.”
- Shane: “A captivating read with all the history connected into the story.”
- Steven: “Told in an easy and accessible style. A simple tale that is a primer on the seeds of today’s political movements”
NATE AND KELLY is a striking story of the type that has waned from our memories, the type of story destined for a massive resurgence — a new take on old stories. It is uniquely told in the voice, tone, and perspective of September 11, 1915.
AN ASTONISHINGLY TIMELY STORY OF RESILIENCE AND HOPE SET IN 1915, the most fascinating year in the U.S.A. Walk through a door to the past in this historical story of romance and adversity. A thrilling and addictive novel.
BUY IT NOW
NATE and KELLY is available as an eBook or as a paperback at Barnes and Noble, AMAZON, Walmart and other book retailers.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT 1915
The Number One song in the USA for 1915 was “Hello, Frisco!” on the Victor label by Olive Kline And Reinald Werrenrath. The song celebrates the first coast-to-coast long-distance telephone call in the USA on January 25, 1915 by Alexander Graham Bell in New York City and his former assistant Thomas Augustus Watson in San Francisco. The AT&T pavilion at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, described in NATE AND KELLY, celebrates the first long distance telephone service.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born and raised in a fancy suburb of Minneapolis, though my family was far from fancy. For most of my life, I’ve lived in Hollywood, California, with a couple periods when I lived in New York City.
A writer all my life, all the way back to when I was editor of my middle school newspaper, my inspiration in youth was the fallout of the Watergate scandal and the impact of broadcast journalism. That’s where I started.
Life bounced me around a lot, however. In the U.S. Air Force, I was given a Top Secret Cryptography security clearance and assigned to Intelligence, which probably inspired my quest for truth. There was a stint at UCLA Medical School as a Research Associate, another inspiration for my quest for truth.
Broadcasting fascinated me. I started in radio and moved to television. Then, on to movies, writing scripts. A passion project of mine was a screenplay about stories of real life on the mean streets of Hollywood (http://EverybodySaysGoodbye.com), which producers loved but found too edgy to make.
The novel NATE AND KELLY is based on extensive research of details and attitudes from the most fascinating year in the U.S.A., 1915.
Find the author at:
Blog: http://MichaelRBarnard.com
IMDb: http://imdb.me/michaelrbarnard
LinkedIn: http://LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelRBarnard
NATE and KELLY 