Monday, October 12, 2015

O is for Ophelia, a father's perspective

Ana shares the origin of her heroine's given name.



Stormy Hawkins' given name is Ophelia. Her father loved books, from classics to great literature, and amassed a fine private library for himself and his only child.

His wife died in childbirth, and he chose the name Ophelia from Hamlet. A first-time father living with two Army companions on the open Dakota Territory, he expected the innocent babe to be naturally sweet, compliant and domestic.
After all, she was a girl.

Instead, the fire-haired, rough and tumble child has the disposition of a hell cat, with a temper bigger than the vast prairie sky. Her nickname suits her to a T: Stormy.

Stormy fits well into her all-male world. She loves riding and roping. She has no interest in frills or doing what she is told. She's smart, tough, determined and hard-charging.

She's an ideal heir to the sprawling ranch her fathers have built up, but that's the problem. They are three and she is one. And she's got the well-deserved reputation of being the opposite of her famous namesake.

She's too ornery and too unfeminine to land a husband.




5 comments:

  1. I'm intrigued about his 'private library' because I thought only the rich could afford books at that time. How and where would he buy them? Curious minds need to know!

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  2. She sounds like a very feisty heroine. One I should be interested to hear more of.

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  3. He's never said where he got them. Only that they are his passion and his indulgence --and Stormy's education.

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    1. I hope we find out at the end. Just to satisfy my curiosity, you understand! :-)

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  4. It's fun when a character lives up to his/her name...but I think it's even more fun when they're the total opposite. I love how the nickname portrays her personality.

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