The Long Wait

Eighteen-year-old Jennie Bethune travels to New York City to marry her fiance, only to discover that he only needs her connection with her father's friendship with Dewitt Clinton, curent mayor of the city and later governor of the state. She finds herself embroiled in the intrigue of heavy politics as well as the danger of the construction of the Erie Canal. It is the lifelong passion of Clinton to open the country to the West. The marriage doesn't take place. When Matthew Worth enters her life, it becomes intense, but they are separated by circumstances beyond their control. Jennie becomes involved with the terror and sickness at the Montezuma Swamps in the path of the canal dig. It endlessly leads her farther away from New York. The intrigue of politics, the distinction of class and the dishonesty of many change her entire life. It's a fast read with adventure, fear and murder complicating the lives of Jennie and Matthew.