1939

Having been over protected and sheltered since early childhood, Elizabeth and Chester Jeffries have become passive observers to their own lives. When their parents die suddenly and tragically in a car crash, they are thrown into the world without a clue as to how to get along, but Elizabeth has the markings of an adventurer and embarks on a journey toward self-hood, taking her brother with her.

“1939” is the story of overprotected and sheltered siblings Elizabeth and Chester Jeffries (aka Sister and Brother), who are completely lost when their parents die suddenly and tragically in a car wreck. Elizabeth, who is shy and big and manly, decides she wants to be called Lilly, despite being equine rather than flower-like, and learns she has the heart of an adventurer. Despite being nearly crippled by grief, Lilly begins to blossom, making friends with three women who encourage her to come out of her shell. She goes so far as to undertake an automobile journey with Brother, now called Arthur, from their Indiana home to Edgar Cayce’s Hospital in Virginia Beach, in quest of help for Arthur’s migraines and poor health. On the way they meet Eula, who is everything they are not: self-confident, physically agile, resourceful and happy to step off into the unknown. On their pilgrimage they endure tragedies as well as transformative moments that make for a captivating journey for reader.

Though born and raised in Washington, DC, Sarah Wadsworth now lives on a mountain side in West Virginia where, among other things, she gardens, tends animals and plays with her dogs and cats, Blue, Red, Ollie, Boris and Lucky, her children and their dogs, Rex, Gus, Avie, Delaware, Milo and Maybel. Her novel “Oddly Enough” was published in November, 2013 and her short story “If There Be Any Praise” was published in the 2002 Edition of ‘The Hudson Review’.