Grace Wentworth has spent her life in the shadow of a beautiful, impenetrable mystery. She knows that her parents, James and Sarah, share a bond that defies the natural world—a secret etched in their gazes and hidden in their silence. Grace feels the pull of that secret in her own veins, a restlessness she cannot name, until the past finally opens its doors.
While visiting the rugged hills of Idaho, Grace is pulled across the veil of time, finding herself in Independence, Missouri, in the spring of 1850.
Lost in an era of mud, grit, and desperate hope, Grace joins a wagon train bound for Oregon. Amidst the grueling two-thousand-mile journey, she meets Matthew Cooper, a pioneer whose presence feels like a half-remembered melody. He is a man who shouldn't exist in her world, yet she is drawn to him with a passion that feels dangerously familiar—as if her heart has known his for centuries.
As the perils of the trail mount—from the unforgiving elements to the internal rot of a desperate camp—Grace must decide if she belongs to the future she left behind or the history she is currently rewriting. To find her way home, she must rely on the ancient, formidable power of Olivia Phillips, the only woman who understands the true cost of crossing the boundaries of time.
A story of inherited secrets, the vastness of the American frontier, and the echoes of a love that refuses to stay in the past.
Meredith Allard is an award-winning author whose work explores the intersection of history, memory, and the human psyche. She is best known for the bestselling Loving Husband trilogy and the Victorian novel When It Rained at Hembry Castle, which was named a Best Historical Novel by IndieReader. Her prequel, Down Salem Way, earned the B.R.A.G. Medallion and was a semi-finalist for the Chaucer Award in Early Historical Fiction.
A recognized authority on the craft, Meredith is the author of Painting the Past: A Guide For Writing Historical Fiction, a #1 Amazon New Release in Authorship and Creativity. For over twenty years, she has mentored writers of all ages, helping them find their voices while honing her own signature blend of meticulous research and haunting prose.
When she isn't unearthing the secrets of the past, she can be found in the hills of Southern Nevada with her cats and a cup of coffee.