Michael Forester returns. The origin of the Flat Creek boy’s grit becomes clear in Recapturing Lisdoonvarna, the prequel to Good Fortune Sweet Journeys. This is the story of a grieving Michael finding peace and also Sean Kelly, his red-headed ancestor, whose tenacity during the Civil War earned him the beautiful and isolated land Michael today claims as his own.

Michael’s early forbearer is a poor but honorable young Irishman, who in 1859 escapes conflict and injustice in Ireland only to find flourishing evil on the streets of New York City. Sean then joins the Union Army as a horse soldier and serves under General Sheridan. In 1866 he musters out of his cavalry regiment in Saint Louis and journeys through the wild forests of the Missouri Ozarks intent on delivering a fallen soldier’s effects to his family. His travels become a lonely man’s odyssey to gain acceptance and love. Along the way several women seek his trust, and lay open their hearts. Sean’s political and religious tolerance shines in stark contrast to the hatred so prevalent during the times.

The Irishman also plays an extraordinary fiddle, and his joyful tunes are a tonic for all who listen.

Modern while at the same time compellingly nostalgic, two stories from different centuries pleasingly join to propel the reader’s quest for justice, love, and decency to a higher level.