My guest today is a strong female character from Tina Susedik’s The Banker’s Wife. Sometimes survival means doing something we regret and yet wouldn’t change. Let’s meet Bertha Woods and find out more about her choices. Take a quick peek at Tina’s bio and then we’ll jump right in.
Tina Susedik is an award-winning, Amazon best-selling, multi-published author with books in both fiction and non-fiction, including history, children’s, military books and romances. Her favorite is writing romantic suspense where her characters live happily ever after with a lot of problems to overcome to get there. Tina also writes spicier romance as Anita Kidesu. She lives in northwestern Wisconsin where winters are long, summers short, and spring and fall beautiful.
Author Social Links: Website * Facebook * Pinterest
Betty: How would you describe your childhood?
Bertha: A mix of joy and anger. I was the happiest when I was at Mamaw and Papaw’s farm where I could fish, learn cook, sew, and knit. Even though I had to help with chores, most of the time I didn’t have to wear shoes and was allowed to ride astride my horse. The saddest was when I had to go back home and have to deal with my mother and society. I hated the balls and soirees, wearing corsets, acting prim and proper.
Betty: What kind of schooling did you have? Did you enjoy it?
Bertha: I had twelve years of schooling. I was then to teach at a country school, but I was forced to marry before I had a chance.
Betty: When did you have your first kiss and with who? How did it go?
Bertha: James Woods. I thought it was pleasant, but it didn’t ignite any sparks like I read about in my dime novels.
Betty: What do you think is your greatest achievement? Why?
Bertha: I think it was turning back into the person I was before my husband changed me. He was a not a nice man at all.
Betty: What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?
Bertha: Having James kneel before me at a country dance and propose to me while the man I loved watched.
Betty: If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be and why?
Bertha: Do what I wanted and not what my mother forced me to do. I would have taught and probably married Sy Anderson.
Betty: What’s your greatest fear? Who else knows about it?
Bertha: My greatest fear was that I would never be loved. I think Mamaw knew.
Betty: How much of your true self do you share with others?
Bertha: Not much. James saw to it that I had no friends.
Betty: Are you close to your family? Do you wish your relationship with them was different in any way? If so, how?
Bertha: I’m close to Mama and Papaw, but not Mother and Father. I wish my mother would have let me be me, but her machinations will never make that possible.
Betty: What characteristics are you looking for in a potential lover/spouse?
Bertha: Kind, caring, loves to joke around, accepts my ideas and thoughts. Treats me as a partner, not something he owns.
Betty:How do you like to relax? What kind of entertainment do you enjoy?
Bertha: I relax by knitting. I love to dance, but once we were married, James never wanted to.
Betty: If you could change yourself in some way, what change would you make? Why?
Bertha: I wouldn’t be such a harpy. I would stand up for myself, even if it meant retaliation from James. I’d be friendlier.
Betty: What do you think you’re good at? Bad at?
Bertha: I’m good at knitting and, when given the chance, cooking. I’m bad at making friends.
Betty: What items do you carry in your pockets or handbag?
Bertha: In my small reticule, I have a handkerchief and the few coins James gives me.
Betty: What foods and beverages do you routinely have in your refrigerator?
Bertha: I don’t know what a refrigerator is. Since James or my mother never let me cook, I have no idea what is in the icebox.
Alone. Always alone. Alone because she’d killed him. She was a murderess, and the worst part was her remorse was the size of a flake of gold.
Married to a man she didn’t choose, Bertha Woods is unprepared for her husband’s cruelty turning her from a sweet, innocent girl who is happiest out on the farm, to a cold-hearted, lonely, society harridan. Always thinking of her first love, for twenty years she bears his scams, beatings, and hatred until she takes matters into her own hands.
Can she return to being the kind-hearted, happy woman she once was? Will she ever find love and happiness with the horse trainer who enters her life?
Travel back to Deadwood, South Dakota in 1879, and meet the characters who live and work with Bertha Woods, The Banker’s Wife.
Purchase links: Amazon * Books2Read
Thanks for stopping by to tell your story, Bertha. And thanks to Tina for encouraging you to come join me today.
Happy reading, all!
Betty
Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories
Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.
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