Lori Benton
Authors: Burning Sky
Burning Sky
“Lori Benton gives us seasons in her debut novel
Burning Sky
. Seasons of planting corn, beans, and pumpkins as backdrops to the ripening and challenges of lives working through chaos after a war and a terrible personal tragedy. The author gives us seasons of the journey through loss, risk, family, and love. The author’s voice is mesmerizing with evocative phrases like ‘The air inside the cabin swirled with stale memories, echoes of once-familiar voices trapped within, awaiting her coming to free them.’ Set on a frontier homestead in New York in 1784, we meet distinctive characters I came quickly to care about. And the promises of the opening poetic question of Burning Sky / Willa, ‘Will the land remember?’ is answered with passion and grace and the satisfaction of a good harvest. Enjoy this wonderful novel.”
—J
ANE
K
IRKPATRICK
, award-winning author of
One Glorious Ambition
“In
Burning Sky
, Lori Benton brings to turbulent life the bitter aftermath of the Revolution, when those who fought on opposing sides returned to ravaged homes, soul scarred by horrifying acts they both suffered and committed. With lyrical imagery and finely drawn characters who rise from the page,
Burning Sky
vividly portrays how God restores the bruised reed and the dimly burning wick and brings new life from the ashes of the past.”
—J. M. H
OCHSTETLER
, author of the American Patriot series
“
Burning Sky
is a beautifully written story of courage, love, and new beginnings. Author Lori Benton introduces us to a great cast of characters while keeping the action strong in every vividly drawn scene.
Burning Sky
had me reading deep into the night to see if Willa would find a way to leave her unhappy past behind and open her heart to love again. Highly recommended to fiction lovers everywhere.”
—A
NN
H. G
ABHART
, author of
Angel Sister, The Outsider
, and other stories
“An authentic rendering of frontier life, full of heart and hope.
Burning Sky
takes the reader on a vivid journey into New York’s wilderness at a time when cultures collided and lives were forever changed. A memorable debut!”
—L
AURA
F
RANTZ
, author of
The Colonel’s Lady
and
Love’s Reckoning
“Easily the best debut novel I’ve ever read.
Burning Sky
is a powerful account of a white woman born Wilhelmina Obenchain who lived as Burning Sky, a daughter of a Mohawk clan. Lori Benton writes with a colorful, spirited pen. Her distinct and compelling voice seizes the reader and holds them captive until the last line of this remarkable book.”
—B
ONNIE
L
EON
, author of the Sydney Cove series and Alaskan Skies series
“By turns exciting and heart-wrenching,
Burning Sky
is a deeply engaging story with a tender, thoughtful heart.”
—D
IANA
G
ABALDON
, author of the Outlander series
“In this classical frontier adventure, Lori Benton brings to readers a journey of the heart.
Burning Sky
is a vivid portrait of life in post-Revolutionary War New York. Ms. Benton’s prose is beautifully written, with a romantic edge reminiscent of
The Last of the Mohicans
and
The Deerslayer
, but with a bold heroine whose struggles through the harsh realities of life in the wilderness bring her to the realization there is something greater than herself.”
—R
ITA
G
ERLACH
, author of the Daughters of the Potomac series and other inspirational fiction
“There are any number of novelists who can make history come to life, but Lori Benton does so with writing so beautiful that you wish the story would never end. From the first line to the last, her characters and story transported me. Take notice, friends; Lori isn’t just a novelist. She’s an artist. I can’t wait for her next book.”
—K
AREN
B
ALL
, award-winning editor and best-selling author of
Shattered Justice
“Lori does an incredible job of using the characters, the setting, and the scene to wash the reader into the story’s flow.
Burning Sky
is captivating from its very first phrase; I sighed and wept with her characters. I yearned for their well-being—and missed them like old friends when I turned the last page. Lori Benton’s debut novel is one I’ll keep on my shelf to read again. It’s
that
good.”
—M
ESU
A
NDREWS
, author of
Love Amid the Ashes
, 2012 ECPA Book of the Year—New Author
“Lori Benton expertly and vividly captures the challenges of life on the American frontier in this remarkable debut novel. An unforgettable story of a young woman’s brave journey to discover not only herself but the God who loves her.”
—S
USAN
M
EISSNER
, author of
The Girl in the Glass
“Lori Benton’s writing is magnetic, drawing you deeper and deeper into her debut novel
Burning Sky
. The woman who had been Burning Sky has loved two families and lived two lives, and hasn’t the strength to care anymore. But when she is needed, her heart is stirred and again threatened by loss. Lori Benton is a word-artist, crafting every captivating line to keep you turning the pages of
Burning Sky
.”
—M
ONA
H
ODGSON
, author of the Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek series, the Quilted Heart novellas, and
Prairie Song
B
URNING
S
KY
P
UBLISHED BY
W
ATER
B
ROOK
P
RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.
The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Lori Benton
Cover design by Kristopher K. Orr; cover photography (Willa) by Mike Heath, Magnus Creative; cover photography (landscape) by Tai Power Seeff, Getty Images
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.
W
ATERBROOK
and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benton, Lori.
Burning sky : a novel of the American frontier / Lori Benton. — First edition
pages cm
eISBN: 978-0-307-73148-7
1. Women—Fiction. 2. Frontier and pioneer life—New York (State)—Fiction. 3. New York (State)—History—1775–1865—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3602.E6974B87 2013
813’.6—dc23
2013007114
v3.1
In memory of two special women …
My grandmother, Margaret Johnson,
who kept my first story
.
And Lauri Klobas,
without whom the journey would have taken longer
and included a lot less confetti
.
I remember the borders of our land, though I have been gone from them nearly half the moons of my life. They are these: the hilltop stone to the north; Black Kettle Creek to the south; to the east, the lake where the warriors found me; and west, the bottomland acres where the corn and wheat were sown, hard by the track that led to Shiloh
.
But who there will remember me? Who will know these sun-browned arms, these callused hands, these legs that stride mountains without tiring and stand me taller than other women? What I have seen, what I have done, it has changed me
.
I am the place where two rivers meet, silted with upheaval and loss
.
Yet memory of our land is a clear stream. I shall know it as a mother knows the faces of her children. I will walk its borders. I will search its ground for what was taken, and what was left behind. It may be I will find me there
.
If the land remembers
.
