1915.
A businessman and a prostitute find love.
And hate.
The
United States of America
faced incomprehensible horror one day shortly after
the turn of the century.There was shock, destruction, and death. War loomed. Americans veered toward either hopelessness, fear, and hate or toward vision, faith, and rebuilding.
They asked, “Could life in America ever be great again?” Some said, “No, let’s retreat to the past.” Others said, “Yes, let’s move forward.” Demagogues exploited fear, painting easy-to-identify groups as enemies to blame. There was amazing technological progress in communication, commerce, industry, and travel that disturbed some people and thrilled others. There were drastic shifts in the way people earned their living.
In the midst of these distressing times, Nate started his career. He left his home in Baltimore, Maryland to become a manager of the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California. It was there that criminals framed him for their theft of gold coins from the Expo.
Nate fled the criminals and the corrupt police.
Kelly fled the people who murdered her mother.
When Nate and Kelly run into each other in a small town in Central California at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, their lives become entangled with each other and with the horrible realities of hatred and evil.
They discover, as everyone does eventually, that the meaning of life is all about starting over.
Author Michael R. Barnard grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, then moved to Hollywood and New York City to write scripts for film and TV. “NATE and KELLY” is his first novel. It is a love story intricately woven into historical facts.
NATE AND KELLY
Available in paperback and as an ebook.
Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart
NATE and KELLY is an accurate historical fiction novel about the USA in the most fascinating year 1915
• Social Science > Violence in Society
• Social Science > Discrimination & Race Relations
• Drama > American
• Fiction > Historical
• Political Science > Civics & Citizenship
Michael R. Barnard's Thoughts & Discussions. 
Too Many Good Men
by Phyllis Hinkle on Monday, July 18, 2011 at 9:10pm
The following is a review written by me, Phyllis Hinkle, of the novel “Nate and Kelly” written by Michael R. Barnard. This eBook is available at Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com. When I started reading “Nate and Kelly” I wasn’t sure what to expect as I usually can’t get interested in historical fiction. This book was different though pulling me into the action until I had trouble putting it down. I wanted to just keep reading. Set in the early 20th century “Nate and Kelly” examines the fear and hatred consuming the lives of society and how demagogues used these prejudices in order to gain power. Nate, a businessman trying to make a start at the Panama Pacific International Exposition, finds himself pulled into a world of crime as he is framed for the disappearance of gold coins. Running for his life he meets Kelly, a prostitute who also ran from the same evil men, and falls in love. They soon find that the hatred they were running from is alive in this small town as well as violence erupts around them engulfing them in its evil arms. Nate tries to explain it with “It’s easier to blame entire groups than to deal with human beings as individuals”. This novel, so well penned by Michael R. Barnard, makes you ponder the problems of society we live in today. When told he is a “good man” for trying to help in one horrible situation, Chester, a minor character, replies “I ain’t no ‘good man’. Good men do nothing. That’s why there’s so much evil”. We’re now in the early 21st century, a hundred years later, and I have to wonder how much progress we as a society have made in those hundred years. Technology continues to soar ahead but our problems continue to be there. Maybe too many of us are trying to be “good men”. I highly recommend this powerful historical fiction, “Nate and Kelly”, by Michael R. Barnard.
LikeLike
Congratulations on your new book! What an intriguing plot line. Love the cover too. Good luck.
LikeLike
Mike, thank you for sending your content to me. I found your content to be a very informitive read and will follow this.
LikeLike