1857: In a bid to outrun her past, Carrie Ballentyne accepts a nursing position with a doctor in the New Mexico Territory. She knows the journey from New York to Santa Fe will not be easy, but nothing could have prepared her for the wilderness she encounters, stunning in both beauty and brutality. To endure, she must learn to rely on her fellow travelers—and one enigmatic man in particular. As she and Eli Ibarra tackle challenge after challenge together, she feels her heart opening to this rugged land—and the man willing to risk so much for her.
The trip west is only the beginning of Carrie’s challenges, though. In Santa Fe, Carrie is beloved by new mothers for her talent and compassion. But when she realizes that her employer and his wife are keeping secrets from her, she must uncover the truth to protect their young daughter. To save the little girl she’s come to cherish, Carrie will have to confront the demons in her own past—a feat that will take all of her bravery and the help of the man she’s come to love and depend on above all others.
The Sweet Blue Distance is the unforgettable story of one woman’s courage to heal herself, her family, and the women and children entrusted to her care.
Author
Sara Donati
Sara Donati is the pen name of Rosina Lippi, a former academic and tenured university professor. Since 2000 she has been writing fiction full-time, haunting the intersection where history and storytelling meet, wallowing in nineteenth-century newspapers, magazines, street maps, and academic historical research. She is the internationally bestselling author of the Wilderness series (Into the Wilderness, Dawn on a Distant Shore, Lake in the Clouds, Fire Along the Sky, Queen of Swords, and The Endless Forest) as well as The Gilded Hour, the first in a new series following the descendants of characters from the Wilderness series. She lives between the Cascades and Puget Sound with her husband, daughter, Jimmy Dean (a Havanese), and Max and Bella (the cats).
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