Alfalfa Girl

About the Book

Alfalfa Girl is the inner soul of teacher and mentor, Emily Sorenson. Alfalfa Girl inspires a painful but illuminating self-discovery journey out of the impact of debilitating and repeated child abuses for herself and Emily’s mentee, Jenny Nelson. Through their growing bond as mentor and mentee in a vocational training setting, the story unfolds a vivid account of personal reconciliation and delicate, fragile trust building. The relationship painfully but lovingly advances the beginning recovery and hope of student Jenny Nelson and ongoing recovery for mentor Emily Sorenson as she encounters an unexpected free fall into PTSD along the way. The two elicit help from a support team, innovative trust-building methods including dog therapy, and law enforcement to combat stalking, rape, and other challenges. Purposely timed during the disarming context of the 2016 presidential election and its still evolving aftermath, the story juxtaposes personal recovery against a painful backdrop of reckless and disturbing national conversations that spotlight the ugly reality of misogynistic attitudes exposed daily into the national fabric of our country. Alfalfa girl and Jenny navigate the deeply personal, complex, and potentially debilitating issues surrounding the devastating results of sexual assault. Through constantly evolving emotional landscapes, ultimately, they both thread their way with unpredictable clarity through meaningful healing and survival as victims to highlight hope for themselves and inspiration for readers.

About the Author

I am retired, but write part time as a reporter for two weekly newspapers in North Dakota. In my past I enjoyed my work as a published freelance writer for publications in my state, North Dakota. My educational career includes three undergraduate degrees in English, Communication Arts and French. I earned a Masters Degree in Education with an emphasis in Adult and Community Education. I have just completed my first novel entitled Alfalfa Girl, the Path from Sexual Molestation to Soul. I intend to find publication of the novel to bring victims voices into the public realm and out of marginalized obscurity. Although written in a fictional framework, it is the story of mine and that of other women I have met.