Cynthia's Search
About
Updated with new material! Cynthia is a young woman in a hurry to find freedom. Having graduated from a stifling Catholic girls' boarding school in Quebec in 1948, this Kansas City girl is fluent in French. That and a Francophile bent is the only useful thing she acquired. Despite what her conservative parents want, she banks her inheritance and sails to France to find the significance and independence she craves. But instead of excitement, she finds Geoff, a conventional though attractive Navy Vet, with plans to enter the US Foreign Service. When the actions of her drunken father sabotage her Paris dreams, she settles for marriage, hoping for a life in exotic foreign lands. She doesn’t love Geoff, but he’s crazy about her and will do anything for her. Seven years and two sons later, restless and resentful, Cynthia discovers her dream when they move to Cambodia in 1958. She learns to fly from a Frenchman with a mysterious, possibly criminal past, but nothing is more important than her newfound independence. Finding fame as a fearless jungle pilot, she neglects her sons and belittles her husband, doing exactly as she pleases. Oblivious to the Frenchman’s increasing possessiveness, she is blindsided when it turns ugly and dangerous. But when tragedy lands at her front door, she can no longer avoid the consequences of her selfish actions. The young family is jerked out of Cambodia and dropped into Bangkok, where Cynthia lives a lonely, isolated existence. After moving to Morocco, Cynthia struggles to find redemption, but her confidence is still in tatters. Only when they move to Tunisia does a random connection with her oldest son allow her to address her fears, and she finds the one thing she needs. Peace.
Praise for this book
•“Cynthia’s Search promises an intense exploration of a woman’s search for freedom and identity amid the constraints of her era. Cynthia Jones’s journey, from the polished elegance of 1950s France to the exotic backdrop of Cambodia, is compelling. Her complex choices and desire for independence make her a fascinating character, especially as she battles societal expectations and personal desires.”
"A novel based on true events, Cynthia’s Search incorporates themes of marriage, parenthood, making mistakes, and becoming un-stuck. Readers may feel frustrated with the main character, Cynthia, as she explores the world on her own terms. Set in the mid-20th century, Cynthia's story is a refreshing reminder that women have been seeking independence and liberation throughout time. She is a young wife and mother who wants more out of life. Author V.C. Williams is quite clear about Cynthia's motivations, trials, and errors. She learns life lessons along the way, and the reader imagines how difficult life was for a woman with bigger dreams than deemed acceptable in the 1950s."