Patricia Boomsma
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Although I lived in Chicago my first three years, I grew up in a far southwestern suburb among the quickly disappearing farmland surrounded by the trees and sloughs of the Cook County Forest District. In college I discovered how much fun being a student could be and tried to make a career of it. After receiving my Bachelors in English, I went to Purdue University, first working on a Masters in English, and then completing the course work and preliminary examinations toward a Ph.D. in Old and Middle English. Instead of writing my dissertation, though, I went to law school, moved to Arizona, and started a family.
Balancing being a mother with a challenging career made it difficult to find time for other things, but once my daughter was on her own I decided it was time to travel and concentrate on my writing. A trip to Spain rekindled my love for all things medieval and inspired me to write my first novel. The Way of Glory centers on a young woman in 12th century England who escapes the violence of England's civil war to find herself immersed in the religious warfare of the Crusades and Reconquista in Portugal and Spain. I've recently completed my second novel and am beginning work on my third. I've published my writing in Scarlet Leaf Review, Persimmon Tree, Vignette Review, New Orleans Review, Indolent Press, and the Journal of Modern Literature. I received my M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Queens University in Charlotte in May of 2016.
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The Way of Glory
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Historical Fiction
Cate, a teenage girl from twelfth century England, joins her brothers and aunt on a crusade to save Jerusalem that stops in Hispania to battle the Moors. Life on a battlefield strains the family’s closeness as they confront the terror and contradictions of holy war. Cate’s dreams of sainthood change to those of a husband and children when she falls in love with a soldier, but she finds no peace even after the family settles on land taken from the Moors. Cate’s friendship with a conquered Moor soon leads to impossible choices as she faces the cost of betrayal and the loss of all she’s known.
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