Every Night Has A Dawn by Rachel Valencourt

 Thought Provoking, Captivating, Emotional

Genre: Historical Fiction/Family Drama/Romance/Coming of Age

Every Night Has A Dawn by Rachel Valencourt Author Winds of Change Book 1.

At ninety years of age, Millie Dawn Jensen, or Dawn as she had decided that she wanted to be known as at the grand old age of six, reflects on her colourful, tumultuous and wonderful four score years and ten. She reminisces over the many events of her life for her grandchild, just as her mama suggested she would on that day when she was nine years old living on the Reservation. She recounts the hardships of the depression, the influential and inspiring time living with and being taught the ways of a different group of people at an age untouched by the vileness of discrimination, the deep sadness and struggle that living through a war brought, and the pitfalls, heartbreak and joy, that navigating relationships gave, culminating in marriage, more heartbreak and bringing her own children into this world.

She has few regrets but has yet to see closure on a decision that she and her late husband Ellis made just shy of sixty years ago. Afraid of the fallout, she is unsure whether it is best to unveil that truth before it is too late, or leave it to be discovered.

I am a very character motivated reader, and am very interested in people. This novel satisfied both of these needs, and that was prior to reading the author’s note at the end, which only enhanced my love for this story. The elderly woman remembering back on her long life, piqued my interest immediately, fascinated by a woman whose existence had spanned so many diverse, changing and in some cases challenging decades. The change in narrative to young Millie Dawn, did nothing to dwindle my intrigue with what was yet to come and what it was about this female’s ninety years, that made it worth re-telling. The author’s use of events, natural or otherwise within Millie Dawn’s life that give her cause for scepticism about the future at the end of each chapter, was a clever consistency. The titles used for the chapters and particularly the main title of the novel, appeared to be either song titles or reminiscent of song titles. I did not recognise all of them but have had ‘Every Rose Has It’s Thorn’ stuck in my head since starting the book. Another inspired consistency. I quite like the predictabilities of certain consistencies throughout a novel. I find it re-assuring.

I was captivated by the vibrant, young, but yet oddly mature nature of this six year old, who seems wise beyond her years and certainly knows her own mind. Growing up in an era where children appreciated the little they had and relished the world around them, is a far cry from anything in my upbringing, having been raised in a largely materialistic society. This made her take on her world, fascinating to me. It was also an education, as I do not know a great deal about subjects like ‘The Great Depression’ other than watching ‘The Walton’s’ as a child, which this book brought back memories of. It pushed me to investigate what I was reading, so that I could get more in the mind of the main character.

The closeness between Millie Dawn and her family was heart-warming. The love between them positively permeated the pages and Franny Jane’s efforts to be a proper big sister to Millie Dawn, emulating her Mama in the way that she talked and the affectionate names she copied when talking to her little sister, were so adorable. I really enjoyed the bond that these girls kept throughout their lives regardless of circumstance or geography. The ‘operation’ that their Mama has to have, made me think about how difficult women had it in those days without any kind of healthcare, and I was concerned as to the outcome with her being so connected to her girls.

When John is agreeing to Clarence staying with them and Millie Dawn instructs him in the ways of ‘how to treat a barn’, specifically theirs as his new place of residence, it really surprised me how astute she was. The actions of her Uncle’s wayward brother that causes the first monumental shift in Millie Dawn’s young life made me feel angry and sad and I felt the struggle that must have been in Lenora between how she must have felt towards John and at the same time, standing by her man and maintaining a strong united front for the sake of their children. It is in stark contrast to how I think a woman would respond today and I admired her for it. The humility, patience and respect of those times has certainly been lost. When John has to get work, I realised that I hadn’t really given any thought to how difficult this might have been, and with America being so vast, it meant travelling sometimes for days at a time. I was quite horrified at the thought of the family ‘camping’ in a random area with no shelter with various inconveniences and dangers that camping left them susceptible to. It must have taken a great deal of resilience and strength.

When John goes to the aid of Bear whilst apple picking, it made me again feel sympathy with Lenora. Whilst she clearly has a thoughtful and kind husband, there is little thought before he acts and they were lucky that the man that he had so keenly defended was able to offer them a lifeline in return.

Their destination of Neah Bay, was another learning curve for me, as I was unaware of this place, its history or the inhabitants. The friendships that Millie Dawn makes there were born of an opportunity that I guess not many children got in those days and probably not many children now, as tribes of people that existed back then, may in some instances no longer live as they did. I imagined Millie Dawn, together with the rest of the children on the Reservation beaming with pride when they experience the visit of a lifetime. I thought the way in which the Author tackles the subject of racism later on in the book was very well done when Talie later moves to Washington and the girls meet in a most unexpected setting. How her time living on the Reservation, then connects with Millie Dawn’s first day at school, with the other children disbelieving her, when she recalls her experience, and her subsequent treatment of Dan, not to mention her letter requesting relatively simple things of a man who potentially has the power to do so much more, brought a smile to my face. I wonder if he ever replied? This whole period of her young life demonstrates how feisty and proud this little girl really was. The strength and self belief that she shows even at that tender age, really is something to be admired and speaks of a secure and safe upbringing. Traits that she carries with her into adulthood.

I loved that they were able to have more of a sense of security whilst living on the Reservation, and something resembling a proper Christmas for those times, and that Lenora gave Millie Dawn and Franny Jane such fabulous books. I am a lover of ‘Little Women’ myself and it was wonderful that the book fired their little imaginations and that those characters became a life long influence.

The way in which the family pulled together in order to get through the hard times and to use every available resource to them was so endearing, with Bobby teaching his younger sisters mathematics, and Junior helping his Daddy with the logging. I felt that Denise was rather left out at times but as the eldest daughter, I guess her role would have been to help her Mama, until she forged her own career when war came. The conversation that Junior has with Millie Dawn after he makes an announcement that she is less than thrilled with, made for a lovely moment, showing the affection and respect the siblings have for each other.

When it came to Millie Dawn and Franny Jane’s foray into the world of relationships, it was nice that they were able to explore this together and support each other being so close in age. Whilst Franny is successful in her endeavours towards a steady dependable future with the man that she has loved from a relatively young age are successful, her support is unwavering for her sister who, through no fault of her own has a more challenging time in balancing her feelings for the man she loves, the need to keep her little family together and the belief that she deserves so much more. Knowing that the action she takes would not have been looked on favourably back then, I was pleasantly surprised at how supportive her Mama was of her decisions, her Daddy maybe less so. Although that shook her deeply, Millie Dawn has enough respect for her Father to know that deep down he is correct. Another indication of how times have changed.

Whilst it moves the story on some sixty years, the Epilogue brings the book to a satisfactory conclusion with Millie Dawn entrusting her granddaughter to write her story. The only thing I want to know is, what happened to the ring and what became of Junior, Franny and Denise? Rachel Valencourt has captured the mood of each era beautifully and I cannot wait to read the next instalment in this absorbing tale of changing times, family ties and difficult decisions.

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4John Guthrie, Author and 3 others