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No Other Place (Five Star Expressions)

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No Other Place is the third book in Irene Bennett Brown's Women of Paragon Springs series. Aurelia Symington, who was born to the comforts of the South,is widowed, penniless and left with small children. She survives a bleak journey to Kansas only to be quickly abandoned by her brother-in-law after she arrives at his desolate homestead appealing for help. In the first book, Long Road Turning, Aurelia was befriended by the compassionate women of Paragon Springs, who all too well understood the rigors of life at the survival level. Aurelia's yearning for safe places, safe people and her aversion to loss nearly undermines her chances of lasting romance. However, as the series develops, against all odds, she not only overcomes her fear of taking risks with people, she accepts the burdensome but exhilarating position as president of the town company. With this book, the reader of this fascinating series begins to understand the breadth and depth of Brown's research. No Other Place with its lively depiction of town-building is energized by the struggle to bring civilization to the prairie. This volume also details little known aspects of the bloody county seat fights that plagued Kansas and the underhanded tactics used to attract the all-important railroads. Her depiction of the constant struggle of Kansans to cope with extreme weather is superb. As we have come to expect from this first-rate author, Brown's skillful portrayal of women's issues under-girds all the action.