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WORK TITLE: Beneath the Apple Leaves
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://harmonyverna.com/
CITY: Newtown
STATE: CT
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2016048449
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2016048449
HEADING: Verna, Harmony
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035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca10442790
040 __ |a NN |b eng |e rda |c NN |d DLC
053 _0 |a PS3622.E7463
100 1_ |a Verna, Harmony
370 __ |e Newtown (Conn.) |2 naf
372 __ |a Mass media |2 lcsh
374 __ |a Authors |2 lcsh
375 __ |a female
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a Verna, Harmony. Daughter of Australia, 2016: |b title page (Harmony Verna) book cover flap (20 years in mass media communications; freelance writer; lives in Newtown, Connecticut)
PERSONAL
Married; children: three sons.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Food Network, script writer.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Modern Bride magazine and Connecticut Woman magazine.
SIDELIGHTS
Harmony Verna worked in mass media communications for two decades, serving as a script writer for Food Network and as a contributor to such periodicals as Modern Bride magazine and Connecticut Woman magazine.
Daughter of Australia
Her first novel, Daughter of Australia, was released in 2018, and as the title suggests, the story is set in Australia. The heroine is a young child when she is abandoned by her father in wilderness of western Australia. The girl will likely die of exposure or starvation, but she is miraculously found by an aboriginal named Ghan. Ghan takes the girl to the nearby town of Leonora, and the girl is given the town’s name. Leonora is soon sent to an orphanage, where she befriends another orphan named James. The childhood friends lose touch after Leonora is adopted by a wealthy American family. James is not so lucky, and the novel follows both Leonora and James across their divergent paths. Years later, the pair are reunited.
As an In the Good Books Blog contributor advised: “I’d definitely recommend this book as it is a beautiful Australian story that captures your attention and emotions long after the last page has been read.” Kathe Robin, writing in the online RT Book Reviews, was equally laudatory, and she stated that “Verna creates a powerful testament to courage and love in this beautiful yet simply told story.” Echoing this sentiment on the Better Reading Website, a critic declared: “Verna creates a poignant story of forbidden love and unwielding courage . . . Daughter of Australia is a truly epic book in its sweeping scale across continents and Verna skillfully draws us into another time and place.” Another positive assessment appeared on the Natalie Slavo Blog, and a columnist felt that “the characters are vivid, engaging and feel like real people. This book is ultimately a delightful Australiana one and journey towards discovery and identity. It’s also one where beautiful language is juxtaposed against the harsh, Australian outback. It’s simply gorgeous!”
Beneath the Apple Leaves
Beneath the Apple Leaves, Verna’s second book, was published in 2017. The novel follows Wilhelm, and his wife Eveline Kiser. The couple is expecting a child when their nephew, Andrew, moves in with them. Andrew is sent to them after his father dies in a coal mining accident, and his mother abandons him and returns to her native Holland. Wilhelm works on the railroad as a brakeman, so he gets Andrew a job there too, but an accident claims one of Andrew’s arms. Riddled with guilt, Wilhelm quits his job and moves the family to a farm. Sadly, Wilhelm’s dream of an idyllic country life is beset with problems. The local community resents German immigrants and the soil at the farm is fallow. Wilhelm knows that the farm is failing, but he is both too proud and too ashamed to admit it. Wilhelm’s dishonesty threatens his marriage, while Andrew still copes with the loss of his limb. Andrew begins to have hope again when he meets and falls for Lily Morton, but Lily has her own troubling secrets.
A Publishers Weekly critic offered both pros and cons in their assessment of the story, asserting that “the plot strays dangerously close to melodrama in its climax and resolution, but Verna’s skill as a storyteller makes this book a solid and worthwhile read.” Robin writing again on the RT Book Reviews website, was far more impressed, and she remarked: “Verna tackles a far-reaching tale of tragedy, sacrifice and triumph with aplomb. . . . This heartfelt, evocative portrait of the era . . . stirs the imagination and heartstrings.” Indeed, as a Historical Novel Society Website reviewer put it, “Verna’s language is rich in description, and her writing flows beautifully. Andrew and the Kiser family are hit with tragedy at every turn, and I felt the weight of all their sorrows.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, May 8, 2017, review of Beneath the Apple Leaves.
ONLINE
Better Reading, http://www.betterreading.com.au/ (April 22, 2016), review of Daughter of Australia.
Harmony Verna Website, http://harmonyverna.com/ (February 25, 2018).
Historical Novel Society, https://historicalnovelsociety.org/ (February 25, 2018), review of Beneath the Apple Leaves.
In the Good Books Blog, http://inthegoodbooksblog.blogspot.com /(May 19, 2016), review of Daughter of Australia.
Natalie Slavo Blog, https://nataliesalvo.wordpress.com/ (May 22, 2016), review of Daughter of Australia.
RT Book Reviews, https://www.rtbookreviews.com (February 25, 2018), Kathe Robin, reviews of Daughter of Australia and Beneath the Apple Leaves.
Throughout her twenty‑year career in communications, Harmony Verna has worked with all media facets: radio, television, magazines, newspapers, public relations, advertising and marketing. As a freelance writer, she has written scripts for the Food Network and articles for Modern Bride Magazine, Connecticut Woman Magazine and more. Daughter of Australia was a final round selection for the James Jones First Novel Contest. Verna lives in Newtown, Connecticut, with her husband and their three young boys.
Print Marked Items
Beneath the Apple Leaves
Publishers Weekly.
264.19 (May 8, 2017): p34+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Beneath the Apple Leaves
Harmony Verna. Kensington, $15 trade paper
(516p) ISBN 978-1-61773-943-9
In Verna's (Daughter of Arcadia) compelling novel, the once-well-to-do Kiser family tempts fate by
relocating to a ramshackle farm in the rural town of Plum, Pa., as World War I commences. After the deaths
of his parents, aspiring veterinarian Andrew Houghton moves in with his pregnant aunt, Eveline Kiser, and
her husband, Wilhelm, a brakeman who helps Andrew get work on the railroad. Andrew loses his arm on
the job, derailing his plans for life; Wilhelm, blaming himself, hastily decides to move his brood out of
Pittsburgh to get away from the railroad and to fulfill his wife's longtime wish for country living. Misfortune
quickly befalls the family--they encounter anti-German sentiment, lose family members, and attempt to
farm fallow soil, and financial headaches ensure that Andrew is always in danger of ending up in the coal
mines his father made him promise to avoid--but miscommunication is the problem at the heart of this
novel, a trope that Verna mines very well. To his detriment, prideful Wilhelm keeps his money woes and
problems to himself, forcing a wedge between himself and Eveline. Andrew falls for local misfit with a dark
backstory Lily Morton, and their romance is often derailed by misunderstandings and false impressions,
some of them frustratingly silly. The plot strays dangerously close to melodrama in its climax and
resolution, but Verna's skill as a storyteller makes this book a solid and worthwhile read. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Beneath the Apple Leaves." Publishers Weekly, 8 May 2017, p. 34+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491949051/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6d48dde1.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491949051
BENEATH THE APPLE LEAVES
Author(s): Harmony Verna
Reminiscent of Dorothy Garlock’s deeply emotional novels set in America’s rural heartland, Verna tackles a far-reaching tale of tragedy, sacrifice and triumph with aplomb. Sweeping from the coal fields to the bustling railroad town of Pittsburgh and the farmlands of western Pennsylvania, Verna’s saga follows the loves of German and Dutch immigrant families through the war years. This heartfelt, evocative portrait of the era, complete with the prejudice against immigrants, stirs the imagination and heartstrings.
1914 is a horrible year for Andrew Houghton: his father is killed in a coal mining accident, his mother returns to Holland, and he is sent to live with Aunt Eveline and Uncle Wilhelm in Pittsburgh, where a freak railroad accident takes his arm. Guilt over the accident drives Wilhelm to sell their city home and buy a farm in the western part of the state. The only beautiful thing on the rundown farm is an apple tree with the name “Lily” carved in the trunk. Lily Morton lives with her sister and brother-in-law on a neighboring farm. When she meets Andrew, Lily feels an immediate kinship, but she has dark secrets that are best kept hidden and deep scars that prevent her from loving Andrew. However, their friendship eases the pain of Lily’s sister’s miscarriages, her brother-in-law’s brutality, Andrew’s uncle’s tragic death and his aunt’s unspeakable sacrifice to save the family during the dark days of anti-German sentiment. It is the apple tree, a symbol of hope and tragedy, that keeps Andrew’s dreams alive and forces him to fight for Lily’s love. (KENSINGTON, Jun., 516 pp., $15.00)
Reviewed by:
Kathe Robin
DAUGHTER OF AUSTRALIA
Author(s): Harmony Verna
Those who savored Colleen McCullough’s novels will enjoy Verna’s debut, which is an intriguing saga of a woman’s triumph over adversity. Verna creates a powerful testament to courage and love in this beautiful yet simply told story of friendship, family and the ties that bind us to our homeland. Verna gives saga fans a real treat.
In the red hills of western Australia, a little girl is abandoned by her father. It is a miracle that she is found by Ghan, an aboriginal mystic who brings her to the nearest town, Leonora. Named for the community, Leonora is sent to an orphanage where she is befriended by another orphan, James, who vows to protect the mute, fearful child. Then James leaves and Leonora is adopted by a wealthy American family. Her life is far from perfect, but better than James’ rough existence. Eventually, Leonora returns to Australia, where she and James are reunited, but she is married to a man she doesn’t love. She must draw on her strong Australian roots to find the courage to fight for the life she deserves. (KENSINGTON, Apr., 464 pp., $15.00)
Reviewed by:
Kathe Robin
Beneath the Apple Leaves
BY HARMONY VERNA
Find & buy on
Immigrants and the working class in early 20th-century America were faced with extreme hardship while eking out a living. The story takes place in Pennsylvania and centers around Andrew Houghton and the Kiser family. Eveline Kiser is Andrew’s aunt, and her husband Wilhelm is a German immigrant. Before Andrew’s father died in a mining accident, Andrew promised him that he would never go underground to work the mines. When he takes a job working on the railroad with Wilhelm, he is hopeful for a better future. Quickly his dreams are destroyed when he suffers a horrific accident on the job. WWI was now raging and America’s views toward Germans turned paranoid and hateful. Wilhelm’s dreams also end when he is fired from his job because of his German heritage. The paranoid atmosphere viewed him as being in a position to sabotage America’s railways, which were so critical to the survival of America. Wilhelm leaves his comfortable home in the city for an abandoned farm in the country. The family struggles to make the house livable and the farm productive. The old farmhouse was Lily Morton’s childhood home and the scene of tragedy in her childhood, but she loves the old apple tree where she would find safety in its sheltering branches. The apple tree plays a significant role in the family’s lives. Andrew and Lily meet and fall in love under the tree, and it is associated with the death and heartache that haunts the family.
Harmony Verna’s language is rich in description, and her writing flows beautifully. Andrew and the Kiser family are hit with tragedy at every turn, and I felt the weight of all their sorrows, but there is hope and the strength of family. This is Verna’s second novel. I read and loved her first novel, Daughter of Australia, and this one is also a wonderful read. I look forward to another novel from her.
Daughter Of Australia - Harmony Verna
Hi, and welcome to my first book review on the blog!
I’ve just finished reading Daughter Of Australia, a debut novel by Harmony Verna.
I was given an uncorrected proof copy of the book to review through http://beautyandlace.net/
This book had me hooked from the first page.
With a little girl left abandoned in the harsh conditions of desert Western Australia, my heart was immediately drawn to her. She becomes one of the main characters in this story, later named Leonora after the town she is taken to by Ghan, a man with vulnerability, tragedy and kindness etched deep in his soul. His role continues on throughout the story, and ties in beautifully toward the end.
The other main character is James, who befriends Leonora when she is sent to an orphanage where he resides, and their bond is strong from the get go.
Both are sent to different parts of the world to experience life with new families but years later, they are reunited in trying circumstances.
The descriptions of vivid landscapes and characters are written so well, and the story travels over the years comfortably.
I found myself thinking of the characters and the story when I wasn't reading the book throughout various parts of the day.
I finished the story within a few days (the book is over 450 pages).
I love the book cover of Daughter Of Australia.
I’d definitely recommend this book as it is a beautiful Australian story that captures your attention and emotions long after the last page has been read. I look forward to reading more from Harmony Verna in the future.
Daughter of Australia: A Majestic, Sweeping Novel that Will Take Your Breath Away
April 22, 2016
daughter-of-australiaIn a stunning debut novel that evokes the epic scope of Colleen McCullough’s classic The Thorn Birds, Harmony Verna creates a poignant story of forbidden love and unwielding courage, set in Australia and America in the early decades of the twentieth century.
1898, Western Australia. A crippled miner finds an abandoned young child in the harsh outback, barely alive, mute and suffering severe burns. He saves her life by taking her to the nearest town, Leonora, after which she is named. And so begins the gripping saga that spans continents.
When the little girl arrives in the town, she is cared for by a kindly doctor’s wife but conditions are harsh and the doctor forbids his wife from adopting the child. So abandoned again, Leonora is sent to a series of orphanages until finding care under the well-intentioned Father McIntyre. Though she remains mute, Leonora forms a bond with another isolated orphan, James, who protects her from the cruel orphanage bullies. But once again both are abandoned and sent away – Leonora to a wealthy American family, James to relatives from Ireland.
Years later, Leonora grasps the chance to return to her beloved Australia and comes face to face with James once more. But their fortunes and lives have been worlds apart; James has endured hardship but finally grown from the reticent boy into a powerful man. Leonora has found wealth and marriage to another man. Through war and turmoil their will and courage are tested in this compelling and page-turning story.
Daughter of Australia is a truly epic book in its sweeping scale across continents and Verna skillfully draws us into another time and place, conjuring the elegance of high society, contrasting with the harsh, hot landscape of the Australian outback.
HarmonyVerna-002Harmony Verna is a name to watch. Previously a freelance writer and with twenty years in communications, this is her debut novel. Daughter of Australia was a final round selection for the James Jones First Novel Contest. Verna lives in Newtown, Connecticut, with her husband and their three young boys.
To purchase a copy or find out more about Daughter of Australia click here
Daughter of Australia is an epic love story and slice of Australiana. But it’s also amazing to note that the author is not even an Aussie. The novel is actually Harmony Verna’s debut one and she has beautifully captured our land of boundless plains with her gorgeous and evocative prose. Daughter of Australia is ultimately a very easy-to-read book that is engrossing and hard to put down.
The story begins with a sweet little girl being abandoned in the West Australian desert. She is on the verge of death but luckily she is also saved by a passing miner named Ghan. This disabled and big-hearted man takes the child to a doctor and eventually she recovers and goes to live in a local orphanage. But she is so traumatised by this past experience that she becomes a mute.
At the orphanage the little girl named Leonora (after the town where she was found) is cared for by a well-meaning priest. Another orphan child named James also ends up befriending Leonora. James is a boy with a heart of gold because he abhors injustice and cruelty. The pair become firm friends but their relationship does not last because eventually Leonora is adopted by a rich American couple and James goes to live in country Australia with extended members of his Irish family.
The two children grow up having difficult lives in their own unique ways. Leonora is trapped by a brutal aunt and forced into an unhappy marriage with a mean and ambitious mining tycoon. James on the other hand has a life of hard graft on his aunt and uncle’s vast and unforgiving property. The pair are eventually reunited when Leonora’s husband purchases land and mines in rural Australia and James comes looking for work. This reunion will leave readers asking whether the two old friends will be able to rekindle their past affections or will the divide between two classes be a bridge too far?
Daughter of Australia has been likened to Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds and it’s easy to see why. This novel is also worthy of comparison to Bryce Courtney’s Jessica. Daughter of Australia is ultimately a rich book that tackles a number of different threads and issues like: race, love, class, jealousy, work, grief and fear. The characters are vivid, engaging and feel like real people. This book is ultimately a delightful Australiana one and journey towards discovery and identity. It’s also one where beautiful language is juxtaposed against the harsh, Australian outback. It’s simply gorgeous!
***Please note: a free copy of this book was given to the writer through a Beauty & Lace giveaway. To read the original review on that website please visit: http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/book-club-daughter-of-australia