Signed by author 2002

Weaving fact with fancy (to fill in the details), Janice Woods Windle builds page-turning fiction from family records. Her family were the first settlers in Texas's Hill Country, the central Texas highlands west of Austin. Photographs of the people whose fictionalized biographies are featured appear at the beginning of each chapter, reminding the reader that history is intertwined with fiction. My own family is mentioned on a page or two, incidentally neighbors of Windle's family, which influences my interest. Most history buffs, though, will enjoy reading about the young Lyndon Johnson and how events during his college days in San Marcos, Texas, birthed his political career. ( )

It’s always sad to finish a book and have to leave the characters and setting behind, and this was no exception. The whole book was enjoyable but I guess the feature that most attracted me, at least in the beginning, is the fact that Janice was writing about her Grandmother in order to understand her better and that Laura, her Grandmother, had left a box which Janice found labeled, “For Janice when I’m gone.” In the box were her wedding ring, her old typewriter and all of her notes for the Hill Country manuscript. Not only did Janice find the box but she began the adventure and fulfilled both her dream to know her Grandmother better and Laura’s dream to be known. It is a fascinating book, much more fact than fiction! Laura's best friend was Lyndon Johnson's mother and the history in this book starts long before they ever met.