Author back in Valley for book signing, reconnection

Saturday promises to be a homecoming of sorts for former McAllen resident Beth Hargrove when she returns to sign copies of her book The Redemption of Glory (Publish America, $24.95) at Quips ‘N’ Quotes.

Born in Houston, Hargrove grew up in a number of small towns across Texas before meeting and marrying Edinburg native Judson Hargrove, son of Sam Hargrove, the former Texas Ranger and mayor of Mission. Beth and Judson lived in Corpus Christi and then Alice before settling in McAllen, where they gave birth to five daughters, Judy, Donna, Carol, Connie and Patty. While living in McAllen, Judson died in a drowning accident on Falcon Lake in 1960. Beth later married Lynn Frizzell, from Harlingen. All of Beth’s daughters went to grade school and high school in Harlingen and still have many friends living in the area.

Hargrove always wanted to write and studied English and journalism in college. Raising five children didn’t provide a lot of extra time for writing, though, and it wasn’t until she retired that Hargrove was able to sit down and put to paper all the ideas she’d had over the years for a story. Now she lives in the Hill Country beside the Medina River, with her little dog Daisy and four cats. The scenery of central Texas inspired the setting for Redemption.

The novel’s protagonist, Graham McKenzie, has finally reached a comfortable place in his life as a minister in a small country church, but Glory, a plucky little spirit whose passage into the next world depends upon “fixing him,” forces him to face his past, which includes a lost love that he thinks is long dead and buried. For Ruth Webster, this means revisiting decisions she made long ago, which led her down a path that Glory now wants to turn in a new direction. As Glory strives to mend the lives of two people who have gone down the wrong road, more lives than theirs are caught in her web. A young widower and his daughter are affected in ways Glory neither anticipates nor welcomes. But her main mission is to bring Graham and Ruth together and this opens doors to secrets, which threaten Graham’s safe, peaceful world and test his courage and commitments.

Published last August, Redemption has enjoyed brisk sales and earned Hargrove a reputation as a “natural storyteller who has a way with words and a good ear for Texas dialect.”

Her next novel, titled Shadow of Foxes, promises more of the same romance, remembrance and redemption.

Hargrove hopes that her return to McAllen rekindles some old friendships as well as finds a new audience for her work.

Hargrove is signing copies of her book from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Quips ‘N’ Quotes, 5011 N. 10th St., in McAllen. For more information, contact the store at (956) 928-0800.

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Martin Winchester is a book critic for The Monitor. He is an English teacher at the IDEA Academy in Donna. Send comments to mwinchester@ideapublicschools.org.