Book Talk: New Hope western series rides off with ‘A Glimpse and Gone Forever’

“Everybody has a story,” Lizbeth Ericson says to her friend Ruth at the beginning of “A Glimpse and Gone Forever,” fourth and final book in the New Hope series of fine historical western novels by Cuyahoga Falls author Karen J. Hasley.

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Lizbeth, a minor character in Book One, “What We Carry With Us,” has returned from two years at a girls’ academy in Omaha. With her mother dead and her father and brother Paul gone without a word, Lizbeth is wondering about her future. She’s staying at Ruth’s boardinghouse and helping out with Ruth’s children, but otherwise all she has to show for herself is a story that’s been accepted in a ladies’ magazine.

New Hope has continued to grow since the Union Pacific Railroad came through, and there is a fine hotel, a music hall and a hardware store. The newspaper, closed since the previous owner sold out, has been taken over by a man named Al Kennedy, and the schoolmaster’s wife suggests that Lizbeth seek work there.

Lizbeth learns how to set type and writes a few stories, though she often forgets her notepad and pencil. A new shop has opened and Al sends Lizbeth. She meets Mr. and Mrs. Hong and their three children, who are setting up their tidy paint and wallpaper shop. She is delighted, but the reader may sense trouble coming. As far back as “What We Carry With Us,” suspicion fell on newcomers and those with foreign accents.

Hasley’s deliberate pacing may mislead the reader into supposing that little is going on in New Hope. Lizbeth strolls with her friend Lucas, the town deputy, to talk things over. Her brother Charlie, who had been sentenced to five years in prison for his association with a gang of bank robbers, has been released two years early on the recommendation of the New Hope constable.

Charlie isn’t inclined to hang around town until he meets the Hongs’ stunning daughter.

All the while, tensions creep into the town. Small events, like a herd of cattle turned loose and some graffiti painted on a wall of the train station, build slowly to violence.

Even the minor characters are well defined and it’s unfortunate that this is the last visit to New Hope.

“A Glimpse and Gone Forever” (306 pages, softcover) costs $11.99 from online retailers. Karen Hasley also is the author of the five-book Laramie Series and the exceptional standalone “The Dangerous Thaw of Etta Capstone.”

‘Peatlands’

Orchids grow wild in Ohio, but you likely will never see them. They grow in bogs, delicate ecosystems often remote and inaccessible. “Peatlands of Ohio and the Southern Great Lakes Region” by Guy L. Denny, with glorious photos by Gary Meszaros, brings rare orchids, salamanders and dragonflies up close.

Things start off with a detailed explanation of glaciation, how bogs form and the different types of bogs. Then comes an overview of the moss, fungi, and the rich variety of plants and animals that thrive in the ancient ecosystems.

“Peatlands of Ohio and the Southern Great Lakes Region” (132 pages, softcover) costs $27.95 from Kent State University Press. Guy L. Denny is retired from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and is co-founder and president of the Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association; Gary Meszaros’ photographs have appeared in six other books from the publisher.

Events

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): Emma Riva signs “Night Shift in Tamaqua,” 1 p.m. Sunday. At 2 p.m., Denise Monique signs “Despite My Odds,” her memoir of survival of childhood abuse. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Robert Kehew, editor and translator of “The Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadors, A Bilingual Edition,” reads from the anthology.

Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Author Heather Reeder and illustrator Joyce Teeft sign “Our Village Letter by Letter” for the book’s 10th anniversary, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Former Beacon Journal writer Chuck Klosterman talks about “The Nineties: A Book,” his reflections on the culture and events of a decade, 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of the book; students are free with ID. Advance notice for an event sure to sell out: On June 12, James Patterson will talk about his autobiography. Tickets are $25; admission to a pre-show reception with Patterson is $45. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Waterloo Restaurant (423 E. Waterloo Road): Don Ake holds “Drinks with the Author” and signs his humor book “Turkey Terror at My Door: Misadventures & Memoirs of a Middle-Aged Man,” 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. (This event was listed in the May 8 book talk; the error was mine.)

Hudson Library & Historical Society: Masha Gessen will talk about “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin” and “Surviving Autocracy” in a Zoom event at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 S. Green Road): Cleveland Heights author Paula McLain (“The Paris Wife”) talks to Chris Bohjalian (“The Flight Attendant”) about his historical thriller “The Lioness,” set during a glamorous African safari in 1964, 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library: Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa discusses her novel “A Woman of Endurance,” about an enslaved African woman in 19th-century Puerto Rico, in a Zoom session from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. From 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Samantha Bailey (“Woman on the Edge”) talks about “Watch Out for Her,” about a mother whose instincts about her son’s babysitter prove tragically right. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

KeyBank State Theatre (Playhouse Square, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland): Neil Gaiman, whose books like “The Graveyard Book” have won Hugo and Bram Stoker awards and the Newbery and Carnegie medals, talks about his work, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets cost from $25 to $85. Go to playhousesquare.org.

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (1375 E. Ninth St.): Fiona Hill presents “From Russia to Rustbelts: Witness to Domestic Fragility” and signs “There is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century,” 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is $25. Register at ccwa.org.

Cuyahoga Falls Public Library (2015 Third St.): Tallmadge author Amanda Flower joins the Riverfront Readers Book Club as they discuss her cozy mystery “Farm to Trouble,” 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Register at cuyahogafallslibrary.org.

Wadsworth Library (132 Broad St.): Emilia Rosa reads from her novel “Finding Christina,” set in 1920s Rio de Janeiro, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

City Club of Cleveland (850 Euclid Ave.): Jeffrey Nussbaum, former senior speech writer for President Joe Biden and author of “Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History,” is the speaker at the City Club Forum, followed by a book signing, 11:30 a.m. Friday. Tickets are $38; go to cityclub.org.

Appletree Books (12419 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights): Raffaele Di Lallo signs “Houseplant Warrior: 7 Keys to Unlocking the Mysteries of Houseplant Care” and conducts a “house plant clinic,” 1 to 3 p.m. Friday.

Akron-Summit County Public Library (Richfield branch, 3761 S. Grant St.): Copley resident Mary E. Ciesa and illustrator Kristina Tartara of Richfield read from “Spiros the Soup-Eating Dinosaur” and go on a hike on the Carter Pedigo Trail behind the library, for kindergartners to Grade 5, 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday. Register at akronlibrary.org.

Logos Bookstore (976 W. Main St., Kent): Edie Bowman of Canton signs “God in Every Moment: Nothing is Off Limits,” and Deborah Markowitz Solan of Cuyahoga Falls signs “Chesed (Mercy): A Jewish Woman’s Discovery of God’s Mercy,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Cleveland Public Library: Anita Hill, central to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, talks about “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender-Based Violence” in a Zoom event at noon Saturday. Register at cpl.org.

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Molly Perry signs her children’s adventure “The Game” and its sequel “The Letter from Sweet Abundance,” 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘A Glimpse and Gone Forever’ is New Hope finale