REBECCA ROAD
A Tale of Shipwreck, Love, and Second Chances
Rebecca Road, by Mary Ford
Inspired by the true story of a courageous teen runaway
She’s resigned herself to a rough and lonely life. Will a dangerous shipwreck and a rootless sailor change everything?
- Scituate, Massachusetts. Irish American Cathe Flanagan is used to the angry roar of nor’easters. So the young widow has no idea that thirty souls are fighting for their lives as a storm’s ferocious waves push their battered freighter Etrusco closer to the rocky shore of her small town. But when her neighbor opens her home up to the rescued Italian seamen, the reclusive single mother is stunned at how easily one of the swarthy newcomers works his way into her days.
Available in Hardcover, Paperback and Kindle e-book formats
Rebecca Road is an emotional piece of upmarket fiction. If you like fierce heroines, gut-wrenching scenes, and opposites who attract, then you’ll adore Mary Ford’s historically grounded novel of second chances.
Horrified when she’s assaulted by a local ne’er-do-well and her self-defense leaves him dead, Cathe turns to the handsome foreigner for comfort. But with salvage operations underway, she knows it’s only a matter of months before her suitor disappears over the horizon.
Has her heart reawakened merely to break again?
Inspired by a true event, this heartwarming love story offers a beautifully told glimpse into life perched on the perilous coasts of the North Atlantic. And with its poignantly vivid prose, Mary Ford’s compelling picture of how the sea touches the fates of those who dare to brave its harsh and uncompromising shores will leave you aching with grief and joy.
Boy at the Crossroads, by Mary Ford
Inspired by the true story of a courageous teen runaway
At only thirteen years old—arrested for being part of the Mercury Gang because the boys only stole Mercury sedans—Conley Ford, on a whim, decides to run out on probation, skip school, and put his thumb out instead.
The fifteenth of sixteen children, Conley discovered early on what it takes to survive. Having learned how to peddle products door-to-door–from tomatoes to soap to hot tamales and more– he’ll take his ingenuity and survival-savvy on the road to find where he belongs away from his overbearing father and tumultuous household.
With only fifty cents in his pocket in the fall of 1955, Conley hitchhikes from his home in Halls Crossroads, Tennessee on a journey through Atlanta, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, only to end up in New Orleans selling hotdogs as a street vendor.
Publication Date
February 10, 2021
Available in Hardcover, Paperback and Kindle e-book formats
But home isn’t always where you make it. Soon, Conley satisfies his need to escape again––and again after that–in hopes that his best life will be waiting just around the corner.
When he finds his way back home, he attempts to settle into high school. But his adventures have given him different life experiences than his peers. To his surprise, they are in awe of his exploits and vote him class president.
Fictionalized by Conley’s wife Mary, Boy at the Crossroads is an adventurous coming-of-age novel about making it on your own and overcoming a hardscrabble childhood.
Inspiration behind Boy at the Crossroads
This coming of age novel is based on a true story
When I first met Conley in 1971, and found out he was one of 16 children, ran away at 13, and sold hotdogs in New Orleans, I was hooked! Over the years, he shared more about his amazing coming-of-age journey with me. How did a boy so young have the wherewithal to survive? At my request, he recorded his experiences on his annual drives from Massachusetts to Tennessee. Those recordings helped form the framework for my novel, “Boy at the Crossroads.”
Left, top: Conley Ford, as a junior in high school; The Ford family as winners of the largest family contest in 1939 – three years before Conley was born; Conley and sister Annie on piano bench; Conley in Harvey, Illinois, 1956
Right: Conley on the High School football team; Conley Ford at LAFB, Texas; Conley and Mary Ford on their wedding day
About Mary Ford
Author & Former Editor
Mary Ford is a retired, award-winning journalist who spent twenty-eight years as the editor of two successful, small-town newspapers in Massachusetts. She lives in Scituate, Mass. with her English Cocker Spaniel, George. “Rebecca Road” is Mary’s second novel. Her first novel “Boy at the Crossroads” was published in 2021.
Mary is available to give book talks and signings, and would very much like her book to be part of a book club read.
Rebecca Road
Now available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle ebook
Questions or Comments? Contact Mary here.
A Boy at The Crossroads
Now available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle ebook