As the story opens, Emma is dissatisfied with her career representing clients in divorces where people use their children like pawns during custody disputes. Emma had hoped the grind of law school would seem more worthwhile once she had real clients. Now, she would like to have a life that included being an attorney instead of a life with no room for anything except work.
Emma enjoys the slower pace of Buffalo Jump and meets two old friends of Frances, Phyllis Carle and Carole Wylie. After spending time with them, Emma writes her observations about each woman and gives Harold Lowe the essays. Once she has written all three essays, Harold will let Emma know if she qualifies for the inheritance.
Emma also explores quaint Buffalo Jump and gets to know some of the other residents, including handsome Deputy Eric Knudsen. She is a witness to a fight in the town's park along the Missouri River and is the victim of a theft.
As the first week progresses, Emma attends Harold's birthday party and helps him scatter Frances' ashes over the Chinese Wall in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. Then Harold opens the third envelope and realizes Emma must also spend time with him. Emma must get only one of the three essays right to claim her inheritance. After reading Emma's first two essays, Harold tries to help her write about him so that her assessment will agree with Frances.
During the story, Emma is faced with the dilemma of writing what she really believes or writing what she knows will please her grandmother. After searching her heart, Emma makes her decision and writes what Harold calls her best essay. Before the two weeks are over Emma learns more about her own values and identity and discovers the reason her parents kept Frances from seeing her all those years.
The Scrimshaw Set takes place in a small Montana town that hearkens back to a more innocent time. While it is a quick and entertaining read, The Scrimshaw Set poses questions about relationships, ethics, morals, consequences, conscience, and responsibility. It is a quick read at about 44,000 words.
The Scrimshaw Set is an eBook and not in print at this time. To celebrate the second anniversary of the author's debut novel, The Scrimshaw Set is FREE for two days--June 9 and 10, 2012-- and then free to Amazon Prime Members and only $1.99 to everyone else. The link to the Amazon book page:
http://www.amazon.com/
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