Bøger af Theresa Hupp

"Normally Dysfunctional" - the title of the first piece in this collection - summarizes what families are all about. Contrary to Tolstoy, every family - happy or sad - resembles every other. Family Recipe, a potpourri of short stories, essays and poems, contains something to bring a memory and a smile to every reader's heart. Theresa Hupp is an award-winning author from Kansas City. She has been a Midwest Voices columnist with The Kansas City Star and an editor of Kansas City Voices literary magazine.

After reaching Oregon by wagon with Jenny Calhoun, Caleb (Mac) McDougall must choose--return to the East or remain on the frontier. Mac's passion for Jenny has grown, but abuse in her past numbs her to his feelings. Mac starts east, then learns of the California gold strike and joins hordes of prospectors seeking wealth, independence, and adventure. Alone in Oregon, Jenny forges a life but fears losing her home if neighbors learn she is not Mac's wife. Separately, Mac and Jenny confront violence, temptation, and heartache in a savage and abundant land. Their quests for happiness travel paths more tortuous than the Oregon Trail they conquered together.

In late 1850 Hannah Bramwell arrives in Oregon City to help her widowed brother raise his children, only to discover his new wife does not want Hannah in their home. With no wilderness experience and a leg disabled in childhood, Hannah must learn to survive on her own. Zeke Pershing, an Oregon farmer, loves the pristine woodlands from which he wrests his livelihood. But family tragedy leaves him with overwhelming responsibilities, and new homestead laws threaten to take half his land. Brought together by necessity, Hannah and Zeke confront quarrelsome neighbors, ruthless thieves, and their own sorrows and fears as each struggles to find peace and prosperity on the untamed frontier.

In 1847, Caleb "Mac" McDougall, a young Bostonian, seeks adventure on the Oregon Trail. As he passes through Missouri, he rescues Jenny Calhoun, a lonely girl in trouble. To join a wagon train bound for Oregon, Mac and Jenny pose as a married couple. On the arduous six-month trek, they confront raging rivers, rugged mountains, and untrustworthy companions. Together, Mac and Jenny face the best and worst in themselves and in each other, while discovering the beauty and danger of the western frontier.

"Sixteen-year-old Will McDougall has completed the education available to him in the 1864 frontier town of Oregon City, and his future is uncertain. Then he learns his family's darkest secret-a secret his parents have concealed since his birth. Devastated by this deception, Will runs away with a friend. The boys become mule packers for a militia unit exploring the untamed wilderness of Southern Oregon. Against the backdrop of the Civil War, unfamiliar Army rules, and encounters with indigenous tribes, Will seeks to understand himself and his family's past ... and to find his way home."--Provided by publisher.