The Madstone : a novel

Summary: "The year is 1868, in the remote hill country near San Antonio, Texas. Nineteen-year-old Benjamin Shreve, an unassuming woodworker, spends most of his time in his workshop, minding his business. One day, however, after a stagecoach passenger is stranded, Benjamin agrees to help the man catch up to the stagecoach that holds all his worldly possessions. Thus begins the unexpected adventure of a lifetime, for when they reach the stagecoach, Benjamin meets its other two other passengers: Nell, a pregnant young woman, and her four-year-old son, Tot, whose wide-eyed exuberance immediately speaks to Benjamin's protective impulses. When he learns that mother and son are fleeing men intent on harming them, he agrees to give them passage all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, where they can catch a ferry to safety. The act of chivalry will prove more dangerous than he could have known, as buried secrets -- including a cursed necklace and the emperor of Mexico -- rise to the surface. Even as Benjamin falls deeply in love with Nell and imagines a life as Tot's father, Nell's violent pursuers are hot on their trail, leading to a conclusion whose pulsing drama is matched only by its beauty and poignancy. Written in the form of a letter from Benjamin to Tot after the events of the novel have settled, The Madstone delivers one of the most beloved and endearing narrators you will ever encounter, in the unforgettable story of three characters who forge a love that will seal them into each other's hearts forever"--