Good morning, dear readers! I have one more wonderful guest post for you this year. If you haven't already, make sure you sign up for my newsletter (should be right above this post) to get the latest updates and subscriber exclusive content starting January 1. It will be here before we know it!
My guest today is Milana Marsenich, who has written a moving story about women's lives after World War I. Just when they thought they had faced the worst, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 hit their Montana town. If you loved Luminous, check out Beautiful Ghost!
Welcome, Milana!
~ Samantha
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Beautiful Ghost an Excerpt
Guest Post by Milana Marsenich
“Come back to the bakery with me and you can see for yourself. Annie doesn’t even know I exist when you are around. You can stay with us. You’ll be safe there.” Kaly heard herself echoing a sentiment Beth had once professed to Kaly. “Come stay at Miss Lottie’s,” her friend had said. “You’ll be safe there.”
This was different. Kaly looked at the ground. “Besides, we talked about it. You can’t work the line now.” Beth had agreed. The syphilis would infect others, eventually killing them. “Maybe Tara would put you to work.”
Kaly worked hard in the bakery. At first, she’d waited tables, but soon learned to cook good wholesome food. She cleaned tables and swamped the place at night, shopped, and stocked supplies. Still, she would not be able to make ends meet without Tara’s help and Tommy sending home his army money.
Beth shook her head. “You know I can’t live on that kind of money. I’ve got a scheme brewing and as soon as it’s ready, you’ll be the first to know.”
Kaly couldn’t help but feel that she had betrayed and abandoned her friend. So many didn’t have the means to retire that profession. Old prostitutes often died cold and sick on the streets, or at one of the hog ranches for old whores. Those with syphilis did even worse.
She couldn’t stand to think of that fate for Beth. Beautiful, bold, vivacious Beth. Kaly missed their camaraderie. Beth had been her best friend since she was fourteen. If Kaly had her way, she’d never give her up. But Beth had distanced herself from Kaly since she’d moved in with Tara McClane, and there seemed to be nothing Kaly could do about it.
Read more of Beautiful Ghost by Milana Marsenich
During the fall of 1918, the influenza pandemic crosses the nation and reaches the mining town of Butte, Montana.
Marika Jovich, who wants to go to school to become a physician, works menial tasks for Dr. Fletcher. She feels useless as she tries to save friends and neighbors from the ravages of the flu. In the midst of the pandemic, she watches the town shut down, young and old perish, and her medical dreams all but evaporate.
Kaly Monroe used to be a half-good woman of the night. She left that life to raise her daughter, Annie, and live and work with her long-lost mother, Tara McClane. Kaly waits for her husband, Tommy, to return from the war. Word from the east is that soldiers are dying of influenza and she prays that Tommy is not one of them.
When an out-of-town woman named Amelia suddenly dies in Dr. Fletcher's office, both women try to learn more about the mysterious woman and the circumstances regarding her death. Is she another casualty of the pandemic, or the victim of manmade foul play? Who is this stranger, and is her demise a portent of the fate that awaits the residents of Butte?
Praise for Beautiful Ghost:
“Marsenich doesn't just describe the place and times, she conjures it up like time travel.”
~ Amazon Review by Ellen Leahy Howell
Connect with Milana Marsenich
Award winning author, Milana Marsenich lives in Northwest Montana near Flathead Lake at the base of the beautiful Mission Mountains. She enjoys quick access to the mountains and has spent many hours hiking the wilderness trails with friends and dogs. For the past 20 years she has worked as a mental health therapist in a variety of settings. As a natural listener and a therapist, she has witnessed amazing generosity and courage in others. She first witnessed this in her hometown of Butte, Montana, a mining town with a rich history and the setting for
Copper Sky, her first novel.
Copper Sky was chosen as a Spur Award finalist for Best Western Historical Novel in 2018. Her second novel, The Swan Keeper, was a Willa Award finalist in 2019. Her short story, Wild Dogs, won the Laura Award for short fiction in 2020.
She has an M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling from Montana State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana. She has previously published in Montana Quarterly, Big Sky Journal, The Polishing Stone, The Moronic Ox, BookGlow, and Feminist Studies.
She has three published novels, Copper Sky, The Swan Keeper, and Beautiful Ghost, and one popular history book, Idaho Madams. Her upcoming novel, Shed Girl: A Juliet French Novel, will be released January 2024. Her popular history book, Mary MacLane: Butte’s Wild Woman and her Wooden Heart, will be out sometime in 2025.
Thank you so much for hosting Milana Marsenich with a snippet from Beautiful Ghost today.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xo
The Coffee Pot Book Club
My pleasure!
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