Ruffling a Few Feathers
Published on 31. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
444 pages
978-1-9192740-0-3 (ISBN)
Description
Reeling from a short-lived difficult marriage, mourning the loss of her hard-won millinery business, and rapidly approaching the ripe old age of forty, Zorada can see no way to escape a bleak future--until one day, a copy of the Matrimonial Chronicle, a whole newspaper dedicated to matchmaking, falls into her hands, and she dares to wonder whether becoming a "mail-order bride" and choosing a husband from among its many advertisements might grant her the fresh start she longs for.Ignoring the advice of trusted friends and family, Zorada throws caution to the wind, and agrees to leave her old life in Nashville to begin again, thousands of miles away, in the back of beyond.
It doesn't take long, however, before Zorada realizes that entering a world where no one knows anything about you may not be quite as liberating as it sounds.
More details
Person
Growing up on California's central coast, Jennifer Graham listened with fascination to stories of her ancestors' everyday joys and struggles as they arrived, settled, worked, and raised families in the Golden State. The story of great-grandmother Zorada, described by the family as a "mail-order bride," who left her city life in Nashville to marry a man she'd never laid eyes on-a rancher in rural San Benito County-was particularly compelling. In Ruffling a Few Feathers, Jennifer has sought to bring this courageous woman's story to life and to highlight how leaving the familiar and daring to adopt the ordinary life of others leads to unexpected challenges, tragedies, and triumphs. In the spirit of her pioneer ancestors, Jennifer, in her late thirties, followed a compelling desire to try somewhere new, and moved to Scotland to work "for a while." She surprised herself by settling, marrying, staying. Though her new island home is beautiful, she often yearns for the filtered light in a redwood forest, the neon yellow of wild mustard against a purple sky, the heady scent of vast strawberry fields in the summer sun, and the insistent scream of a Steller's Jay as it greedily eyes your picnic lunch.Ruffling a Few Feathers is Jennifer's first novel. A sequel is already swirling in her mind and demanding to be released on paper.