Having recently retired from my real job, I have had the opportunity to pick up several books this summer. Summer’s almost over, right?

My friend Patty gave several books to Jim thinking he might want to read them as he is the “Southern Arizona Guide” and these novels are set in Southern Arizona and Tucson. Well, he did not pick it up fast enough and I needed another book to read. Besides, I do not imagine that it is his kind of book anyway.

These Is My Words, by Nancy E. Turner is a historical fiction of sorts in the form of the diary of Sarah Prine, pioneer settler. The diary stretches from her young adulthood in the 1880s to motherhood and the death of a loved one which ends this book in 1901.
It starts out with her family; father, mother and little brother, leaving Arizona and heading for Texas. They will soon return.

Turner follows it up with two sequels. Can’t have too much of a good thing. Like the fiction novels about the sheriff of Cochise County, Joanna Brady, by J.A. Jance, that are peppered with real and imagined places in Cochise County, These Is My Words is salted with actual events and real people as well as the imagined characters of Nancy Turner.

Turner began this book as a college project, gleaned from her family history. She soon discovered that she could weave the character of Sarah Prine into a real-time in history, Post Civil War and the continuing Apache Conflicts, thus tying Sarah’s life to recognizable locations and events.

Another “great” thing about this book is that it vividly recounts and brings home the hardships of pioneer life in the Arizona Territory. So much tragedy.

I picked it up and started reading. It didn’t take long to become involved. Don’t let the Rhett and Scarlett reference stop you. It is an engaging read. There are no chapters to speak of and few breaks in the storyline. I will leave most of this story as a surprise to you too.

Lastly, I must say that I find it annoying when I cannot put down a book long enough to do my chores. This book is one of three novels about the life of Sarah Prine. I need a break after the first one. I have dishes to wash.

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner can be found on Amazon.com where we might make a few pennies.

Or perhaps, if you live in Tucson, you could call Bookman’s and see if they have it available. There are three Bookmans stores in Tucson; one on Thornydale and Ina and two on Speedway. One of them should have it. If you have not been to a Bookmans, it’s a hoot. It is a used book exchange, DVD’s and more. They will buy most of your unwanted paperbacks and your rare hardback books. One of the stores also buys and repairs instruments. Bookman’s also has stores in Phoenix, Mesa and Flagstaff.