A Given Choice (Paperback) by Mary B Blalock

Deplorable acts, deprivation, and hardship bring two lonely teenagers together to find love that time cannot erase, miles cannot break apart, nor death can cheat.

At the turn of the twentieth century, life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia is a time of simplicity and unpretentiousness ... a time of endurance, survival, and sacrifice, and for Rebecca Mason, a piteous and lonely girl, it is also the time of awakening.

In a world where frivolity has no place and foolishness no heart, Rebecca struggles to provide comfort for the children at Sweet Haven Orphanage. Raised under the cruel hand of Ms. Ambrose, Rebecca, too, is an orphan, never having known a kind word or a soft hand, and when mysterious events send fifteen-year-old Crip to the orphanage, he easily becomes her hero.

Rebecca has never known a boy her own age ... her interaction with the opposite sex consisting of young lads and old men ... and the two teenagers are soon inseparable. As years go by, young love blossoms, and it went without saying that Crip would marry her one day.

Crip's past comes back to haunt him, and in fear of being sent to prison, he runs away, leaving the girl he loves behind, sobbing and heartbroken.

Finding herself alone and with child, Rebecca is faced with the most difficult decision she will ever have to make, and the outcome of her choice will forever change the course of her life.

Spanning twenty-five years, A Given Choice is a passionate, heart-wrenching story of commitment and undying love.