Dancing to an Elegy for Eden

by Rhonda Hanson

The farm of her childhood is gone forever. It is now a place of death and devastation. A man has purchased the farm, in order to free it from its captors. For her, his kindness is a act of respect, a funeral song. An elegy for Eden.

About The Book

Elegy... a lament, a requiem, a funeral song.

Long ago, Piers Brooks had a farm that was referred to by all the locals as Eden, favorably compared to that biblical utopia. Like Paradise Lost, the once idyllic homestead is no more.

A little, dark-eyed girl stared out the back windshield of the family car, watching it slowly disappear behind them, too young to realize that grown-ups who mourn the fact that one can never go home again, do so for a reason. The little dark-eyed girl is now a beautiful, dark-eyed woman, who finds herself alone in the world, and dreams of returning to a lush, flourishing marker in time, of what was once a cherished life.

One of the last things Piers Brooks told his daughter is that it would be better if she let it live on as a lovely childhood memory, and not try to revisit a place that could surely not be expected to still exist as the fertile, pleasant parcel of earth they drove away from, leaving it vulnerable, unprotected, and at the mercy of what was to come. Now, she covers her mouth with her hands, and stares all around in shock, and grief, with a keen sense of having been violated, too late to realize that her father had desperately wanted to spare his child the kind of disappointment that casts doubts on the validity of what were once carefully treasured memories.

Eden is dead. Evil has come, and blood has been spilled. All that remains is the refuse, the debris, the desecration, the willful defilement, and carnage at the hands of careless, lawless strangers, who have swarmed and landed, as vultures gathering to peck at the carcass. The return of the daughter of Piers Brooks has now drawn their malevolent focus and they are obsessed with the desire to claim her as their next victim.

A man has stepped forward from the shadows of the past, who loved Eden from afar and paid the price for its ransom. There can be no resurrection, but he longs to let it rest in peace and dignity. To the child he knew and to the woman she has become, his kindness is an act of respect, a tribute... a funeral song. An elegy for Eden.

Rhonda Hanson

Author of inspirational romance, including the Father series, consisting of "Father's Choice", "Father's Wings", "Father's Song", and a linked novel, "Father's Friend". Other titles include "The Master of Hawthorn Manor", "Buying the Farm", "Once Upon An Altar", "The Art of Letting Go", "Dancing to an Elegy for Eden", "The Long Goodbye", "Love Finds the Way Home", "Linger" and her children's book, "The Adventures of Pahwoo and Her Friends".

Rhonda Hanson is one of a pair of twins, the youngest of ten siblings, raised on Black Bayou in Louisiana. For much of her childhood, she lived without the luxuries of indoor plumbing and electricity and, growing up without the Internet, devices, or television, she was left to discover the exciting worlds that can only be discovered within the pages of a good book. She is a collector of vintage children's books, and is not embarrassed to admit that she will reread the same book over and over, if it makes her happy. Her own imagination began to be challenged at an early age, and she would pen practically anything and everything that fermented in her mind, much of which is sadly lost or left back in her youth, probably in some old trunk in someone's barn.Today, Rhonda is a novelist, recording artist, songwriter, musician and speaker, but her most crowning achievement is being "Grammy" to her two granddaughters. She spends her days in middle Tennessee, writing, convincing feral cats that the Hanson Hotel is open for business, bragging to anyone who will listen about her grandchildren and tearing all her Macbooks apart and rebuilding them, because of her stubborn refusal to upgrade.

More Books by Rhonda Hanson

Father's Choice

book one, the Father series

by Rhonda Hanson

Meredith Clark is as irritating as she is beautiful. She's all Joel wants. A man from her past threatens to destroy her career overnight.

Father's Wings

book two, the Father series

by Rhonda Hanson

Does Father have wings? The lives of Joel and Meredith continue forward into a season of intercession, and spiritual warfare that can only be survived under the protection of a loving Father.

Father's Song

book three, the Father series

by Rhonda Hanson

The 3rd book in the Father series, Father's Song, weaves the final threads into this much loved tapestry. It reaches back across former years and hints at the years to come, with a bittersweet, lovely but final chord.

Father's Friend

a linked novel, following the Father series

by Rhonda Hanosn

Father's Friend, not included in the Father Series (comprised of Father's Choice, Father's Wings, and Father's Song), is a linked novel that takes the reader back to the beginning and peels back the layers of who Meredith Clark really is.

The Master of Hawthorn Manor

by Rhonda Hanson

When Audra Campbell returned to the town she had lived in, after having been gone for several years, the first thing she heard was that Martin Satterfield was recently widowed, following the untimely, and suspicious death of his late wife.

Buying the Farm

by Rhonda Hanson

Barrett Webb had been told that once he bought the struggling young widow's farm, she would be homeless, but when he met the beautiful Iris Anderson and she looked into his eyes, he was prepared to offer her a solution.

Once Upon an Altar

by Rhonda Hanson

If anyone should be able to forgive, it should be a minister. A beautiful actress is standing in need of forgiveness, but she knows that the pastor is the last one willing to offer it to her.

"I"m not okay, God! I'm not okay!"

The Art of Letting Go

(Opus Magnum)

by Rhonda Hanson

Was Jane Roberts dead? Her brother, a wealthy timber baron, came this small town from halfway across the country to find out. No one was going to stop him. Would Cora Hartmann be determined to challenge him, or would she become his lifeline?

The Long Goodbye

by Rhonda Hanson

THE LONG GOODBYE is dedicated to anyone who has ever become its victim, and who may even now be unable to move ahead without looking back. It is for those who will one day find themselves part of another's journey of transition.

Love Finds the Way Home

by Rhonda Hanson

An abused woman's escape leads her into her protector's arms. A bereaved woman refuses to ever trust love again. When time and love join forces, a sanctuary begins to appear on the horizon for each woman, and love finds the way home.

Linger

by Rhonda Hanson

Hester discovers a fascinating old man at the Bishop farm who has an immediate and emotional reaction to her return, and who shares his wit, his wisdom, and his poetry with her, despite the apparent displeasure of his suspicious, unamused son.

Pahwoo is an unusual owl. She is pink! She wants to be an elephant, she wants to paint the Painted Desert, and she wants an elaborate funeral! Blinky the cat, Lily the goat, Dusty the pony keep her grounded. Millie the mouse cheers her on.