"I was a California girl. My children were unofficially forbidden to move more than 1 ½ hours from their mother . How did I end up in Arkansas? I blame Eric Estrada! After purchasing our new home in Arkansas it was a full year before we could actually move. We endured the comment “Your moving where!” and the looks that went with it, by our California friends for that entire year. So this started out as e-mails to friends and family to let them know all the strange and amusing differences in our new world. Many of them wanted to know if I was saving them to make into a book. One year at Christmas my son Donald said he only wanted one thing for the following Christmas, a copy of the book. So here is this book of laughter, and a few tears, that I hope you will enjoy." -Valerie Katz

Abigail’s Exchange is the inspiring story of a young lady who comes of age in the late 1800s in Baltimore, Maryland. Raised to own and manage a candy shop, which is left in her hands following tragedy, she struggles with her career and her wedding vows when she finds herself locked in the stranglehold of a difficult marriage. In Abigail’s life, the reversals of fortune strike suddenly and unexpectedly, and at her lowest point, she watches her good intentions turn into unspeakable calamity. But, this is not the end of the story, for there is yet another reversal – a final, terrific tale of bravery, shrewdness, and unfaltering resilience. This story will resonate with women and men who are trying to navigate through real life with grace and honor.

As a child the author was taught to read the Bible, memorize verses and learn the Bible completely. After meditation on it for over sixty years he had the insight that this book shows. The Bible is really simple, and a single book with a clear outline. People who have added or subtracted from what it teaches have found that conflict almost always follows. By understanding what this book teaches, people have enjoyed life more and contributed to it more effectively.