Twilight’s Child

“Emma Ann Maddock, she still remembered her name and what it meant, Emma, one who heals, and Ann, full of grace, mercy and prayer. She lay there wondering if her names described her life. Had she healed anyone? She knew she had prayed plenty of times over the years…”

As a young girl, Emma and her family emigrated from Germany and settled into a new life in America.  They eagerly accepted the new language, the new customs, and were greatly affected by the Pioneering spirit that reshaped the landscape of the United States in the mid-19th Century.  

After the teacher of the only school in her small town goes West, Emma is asked to fill the vacant position. But after two fulfilling years at the head of the classroom, Emma’s family begins to talk to of exploring the new frontier, leaving their lives behind them once again…

Twilight’s Child focuses on Emma and her life after this great decision.  Exploring the relationship between the now elderly Emma, the family members who surround her in her final years, and the past she can only recall in patches, the narrative twine unravels and braids along the path of Emma’s life.