Story of young woman in colonial-era South Carolina pulls at heart strings

Author Idella Bodie and the characters she creates are the kind of people you are blessed to know.

Bodie develops characters who touch the lives of everyone they come in contact with, and her latest historical fiction gives life to a young woman whose story tugs at the reader's heart strings.

Book No. 28 in her writing career, "Rachel's Story" shares the gripping reality of a child's life forever changed by the harshness of the world and teaches the lessons of forgiveness and understanding.

Set in the colonial period of South Carolina's history, Rachel and her family decide to join their relatives living in South Carolina.

They make the journey along with other early settlers down the Great Wagon Road in order to start a new life where land was free.

Rachel's family faced an unpredictable fate when attacked by Native American tribes who often attacked settlers coming to cut down trees and build homes on the land.

Rachel is forced to face life without her parents, discovers the joys of a new life and learns people aren't all the same and shouldn't be judged by the actions of a few.

"I had been wanting to write something for many years for children who have lost their parents," said Bodie, a retired school teacher.

"It is my hope that after reading the book, it might help that person cope better with what has happened to them."

Written in late 2008, "Rachel's Story" was published and released by Sandlapper Publishing in the first few days of 2009.

After talking with many teachers and hearing repeatedly that children are drawn to smaller books, Bodie chose to keep the story short and geared the writing toward elementary school readers.

The 61-page novel based upon actual events shares an important moral message while teaching its readers about the challenges of the colonial period.

Almost all of Bodie's books are historical fiction steeped in South Carolina history and written with the upper elementary school age in mind.

She spent eight and a half years researching and writing a 12-part historical "Heros and Heroines of the American Revolution" series that is now used in classrooms across the state.

During this research, she encountered the seeds of inspiration for "Rachel's Story."

A native of Ridge Spring, Bodie grew up learning to tell stories.

"My mom was a great storyteller. Growing up, she always fascinated me with her stories. And one day, I started telling her my own stories," said Bodie.

"You have to know a character really well to make them believable. If you think about them long enough, you will hear them in your head, and they will help write the stories."

"Rachel's Story" is available at Booklovers Bookstore in Aiken or visit www.sandlapperpublishing.com.