The year is 1914 and three sisters find themselves involved in an accident. The sisters were driving in their buggy when a motor vehicle plowed into them. Men came to the women’s aid and lifted the damaged buggy off of them. The oldest woman, Constance Kopp, is outraged. The driver, Henry Kaufman, is disrespectful but Constance informs him that she will be sending him a bill. Miss Kopp makes Mr. Kaufman look quite ridiculous. She is six feet tall and towers over this petty little man. Her sister Norma warns Constance to drop the matter but she will do no such thing. To Constance, it is the principle of the matter. And so, she sends Henry Kaufman a bill.
After receiving no response, Constance decides to go down to Mr. Kaufman’s silk dying factory. Once she is there, she meets with Mr. Kaufman’s sister who is not at all surprised by the story. Constance and Henry have another meeting. At this time, he threatens the youngest sister, Fleurette. Without thinking, Constance goes into a blind rage and finds herself smashing Henry Kaufman’s head against the wall. Unfortunately, she did this in front of his low life friends.
Constance realizes that she has made an enemy. Bricks with threatening notes attached break through windows. Cars drive past the farm house with men yelling for Fleurette. Norma is upset with Constance for pursuing the matter. Constance ends up confiding in the sheriff. He posts deputies at her house and gives each woman a gun and teaches them how to shoot. The sheriff instructs them on what to do in order to collect evidence. Eventually Henry Kaufman slips up and the sheriff is able to arrest him.
But there is more to the story. Throughout the book, the reader is given clues to Constance’s past. We learn why these women moved from Brooklyn, New York to live on a farm in New Jersey. And there is the case of the missing baby that Constance solves. Girl Waits With Gun is the story of a unique woman that stood up to a bully and protected her sisters. And, Miss Constance Kopp was one of America’s first female deputy sheriffs. This book is based off of true events. You can find it in print and audiobook.
To learn more about Constance Kopp, visit the author’s website.
Montmaray is a (fictional) tiny island monarchy between England and Spain whose already small population was decimated during World War I, and there are only a few village families left living in the shadow of a romantic, crumbling castle when 16 year old Sophie begins keeping her journal in 1936. Oh yes, ROMANTIC, CRUMBLING CASTLE. Sophie is actually Princess Sophie of the FitzOsborne Royal Family– she is one of three Princesses of Montmaray (the others being her stunning, intellectual cousin, Princess Veronica, and her younger tomboy sister, Princess Henry) and also the younger sister of the future King of Montmaray, charming Prince Toby FitzOsborne. However, Sophie’s royal title does not correspond to a royal lifestyle, at least not while she is living on a remote island in a stripped bare castle under the rule of her mentally ill uncle. Their wealthy aunt is forever trying to get the girls to move away from Montmaray and become a part of British Society, but their loyalty to Montmaray keeps them grasping to its shores until they have no choice but to fall into the lap of luxury. And then, of course, the war begins and Sophie’s home seems lost forever.
