Author Ellen Lindseth shines with her debut novel "A Girl Divided"

I can’t tell you how excited I am to introduce you all to my friend, critique partner and debut author, Ellen Lindseth. I’ve been waiting a long time for the world to get to read Ellen’s book A GIRL DIVIDED from Lake Union Publishers. I’m slightly biased because I’ve been reading this book from its beginning stages and pages, but I know you all are going to fall in love with this unique and lovely story. Help me welcome Ellen Lindseth.

A two-time Golden Heart finalist, Ellen writes emotional and romantic WWII women’s fiction. A world-traveler and small plane pilot, she lives in Minnesota with her husband, three rescue cats and an elderly bearded dragon.

A GIRL DIVIDED

Rural China, 1942. Twenty-two-year-old Eugenia Baker exists in a bubble as yet untouched by WWII. Content to help her father with his missionary work, Genie sees her future as a straight, if narrow, road—until an American pilot arrives, warning them of the approaching Japanese army.

Lieutenant Ted Younan is one of the Flying Tigers, volunteer fighters protecting China from aerial attacks. After rescuing Ted from his downed plane, Genie’s father asks the flyboy to get his daughter across the mountains so she can escape to the United States. To leave her beloved home—much less chaperoned by her father’s overbearing assistant, Nathan—is the last thing Genie wants, but she reluctantly agrees.

Ted is unlike any man Genie has known, and he opens her eyes to the idea of determining her own fate and chasing her dreams. But Genie has her doubts when tragedy thrusts responsibility upon her and the war creates unexpected opportunities, challenges…and temptations. Now, a world away from the woman she was, Genie must discover the woman she wants to be.

STORY EXCERPT

Ted held her gaze for a long moment after the dance ended. She felt as though she could fall into the mahogany depths, never to resurface. “We should probably go back to the table. Our drinks have arrived.”

Genie leaped back, mortified by her behavior. It’s embarrassing how you throw yourself at him. Nathan’s words sank like a dagger into her chest.

“It looks like Joe ordered us some food, too.” Ted gestured for her to lead the way. “Good man!”

She started for the table when she caught sight of George by the bar. He was chatting with a dark-haired woman in a green dress that left little to the imagination. Unexpectedly, his hand slid down the woman’s back to rest familiarly on her buttocks.

Actually, he was doing more than resting his hand on the silk-clad cheek; he was actively massaging it, the emerald fabric bunching under his fingers.

Genie slowed. “Ted . . . um . . . does George know that woman?”

Ted turned to follow her gaze. After what sounded like a muffled expletive, he immediately redirected her movements, cutting off her view. “Forget you saw that.”

“But he was . . .” A curious tension curled deep in her body as she sought the words to describe the scene, her mind’s eye caught by the sensual ripple of silk as it caught between his fingers, the displacement of the woman’s soft flesh beneath the fabric. Heat climbed up her neck, leaving her flushed, shaky.

“Doing nothing you needed to see. I guess they’ve lowered their standards since the last time I was through.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind. They’ll be leaving soon enough.”

Joe stood politely as she reached the table. “You kids have fun?”

“When did they start letting birds in?” Ted asked angrily before she could say a word.

Joe looked around the club. His eyebrows rose when he reached the bar area. “Well, well . . . so that’s why he sent a waiter back with the drinks.”

“Warn me if he starts to bring her this direction,” Ted growled as he pulled out her chair.

“No worries about that,” Joe said, resuming his own seat. “They’re heading toward the door.”

“What . . .” she began, and then the pieces began to fit: Ted’s discomfort, George’s hand so low, the tight dress, “birds” . . . birds of paradise, her father had once called them. “That woman was selling herself? She was a prostitute?”

She knew about prostitution, of course. The world’s oldest profession was mentioned several times in the Bible, and missionaries everywhere worked to stop the trade. She just hadn’t seen a fallen woman in the flesh before.

Her gaze flicked to the bar again. George and the girl were indeed gone. Her stomach clenched, but not with disgust as she had expected. Her emotions weren’t nearly that uncomplicated. To her shame, beneath her discomfort also lurked a certain fascination.

Picking up her fork, she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what would happen next. Where would the two conduct their business? In a room with a bed? An alley? Would they both disrobe? Or only the girl?

Would she, the girl, like it?

At that thought, she forgot to swallow and breathe separately, and choked.

Ted smacked her on the back. “You all right?”

She managed a smile over her glass. “Fine.”

FIND A GIRL DIVIDED ON AMAZON

Q&A WITH ELLEN:

LIZ: What was your favorite book as a child?

ELLEN: Wow, that’s a tough one! I would say the one that has stuck in my imagination the longest is The Island Stallion by Walter Farley. A wanna-be archaeologist on a pristine Caribbean Island with gorgeous wild horses … who wouldn’t be swept away? There was even a kind of HEA plot: would the hero win the stallion’s love and trust?

LIZ: How did you come up with the idea for this book? 

ELLEN: I’ve always been fascinated by the nooks and crannies of history, the things that get overlooked or overshadowed. In this case, it was China’s experience of WWII and the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) here in the United States. I also have to thank my childhood friend, Heather, for having a grandfather who was a missionary that traveled through China, and inspired the creation of my heroine’s father in the novel.

LIZ: If you described your book in three words, which would you choose?

ELLEN: Adventure, self-discovery, independence, I guess. Oh, and plot-twists, but that would be four, so never mind.

LIZ: You’ve been granted one superpower for one week. Which power would you choose, and what would you do with it?

ELLEN: I suppose it would come as no surprise to anyone who also knows I’m a pilot, but I would love to have Supergirl’s ability to fly. I’ve had more dreams than I could count about jumping into the air and then just floating there, completely defying gravity. It’s such a rush, even in my dreams.

LIZ: Name three things on your desk right now.

ELLEN: Two beanie baby cats (different colors) and a cross-stitch project I’ve been working on for nearly 20 years, but don’t tell anyone, or they’ll think I’m a procrastinator.

LIZ HAS GOTTA ASK: What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever put in one of your books?

ELLEN: The most personal thing in A GIRL DIVIDED is the terror Genie feels when she botches her first solo landing attempt. I’ve had my own hair-raising close calls, as has any pilot. We just rarely mention them to anyone other than other pilots, who would nod their heads in sympathy.

ELLEN’S QUESTION FOR YOU:

In A GIRL DIVIDED, Genie lets her friend talk her into swim lessons even though she’s terrified of water. When I turned 50, I challenged myself to earn my private pilot’s license, even though I was terrified. What’s the most challenging thing you have every done?

I have a $10 Amazon gift card for one lucky commenter today!

WHAT’S NEXT?

My next book is Violet Exposed (tentative title), to be released October 2019.

CONTACT ELLEN:

E-mail:   authorellenlindseth@gmail.com                  

Website:          www. Ellenlindseth.com

Facebook:        https://www.facebook.com/EllenLindsethAuthor

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/EllenLindseth

Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15289905.Ellen_Lindseth