The story was inspired by the love of Williamson’s grandparents who were kept apart for six years, but then loved for another 65 years. Here’s what she had to say about them:
“It was in 1902 that Elizabeth and Peter first met and fell in love. But Elizabeth’s father forbade the match for six long years, until Peter could prove himself good enough for his daughter. Together at last, they had nine children and sixty-five wonderful years as husband and wife. They died in their nineties, within two years of each other, as much in love as they had always been. A love that wouldn’t give up…”
The story of ONCE IN A BLUE MOON begins in 1815. Jessalyn Letty, a wild flame haired girl raised by her grandmother on the Cornish highlands above the sea, is a young woman of character and a brave heart that never varies throughout the story. I loved her for that. When she is still a tall, gawky 16 year old, she meets McCady Trelawny, then in his early 20s, and youngest brother of the infamous Trelawny noblemen known for living lives of debauchery and dying young and in debt. Wounded while becoming a war hero defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, McCady returns home to Cornwall with a vision for a steam locomotive that can carry passengers, but he is too poor to invest much in the idea. His cousin, Clarence, who could be his illegitimate half brother, joins McCady in the venture, but stands in McCady's shadow determined to one day gain great wealth that will bring him the status he craves and the woman he wants--Jessalyn. But once Jessalyn meets McCady, her heart is lost forever to the handsome dark haired rogue. Her love will be tested by years of separation and much more.
This is a compelling love story and very well told with many twists and turns, all naturally woven in with great characters and well developed historic details that make you feel like you're living it. You will laugh (her 16 year old antics are quite incredible); and you will cry as you endure her years of loving and losing McCady.
You simply must read this novel...and trust me, you won't be disappointed! It’s a great tale from the queen of unrequited love.
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