I AM WOMAN, I AM INVINCIBLE Sequel to I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR Volume 2 In this sequel to “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!” we continue to answer many questions associated with the writing of the Lincoln Assassination Series’ “MARY ELIZABETH SURRATT” and the Faith Chronicles Series’, “FAITH – SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN.” During the writing of these two earlier novels, the question was always asked, why was Mary Elizabeth Surratt given such a bad ‘shake’ by a ruling from Yankee Generals in a witch hunt of a trial? In the other novel, FAITH, why did the Reverend Ada Caston Slaton Bonds remain with such an abusive alcoholic husband for twenty years? I decided to take four beautiful young women, known throughout the novel as the “Four Musketeers,” who pledged a lifelong friendship with each other before the beginning of the Civil War and follow their lives of falling in love after graduation from the Hampton Women’s College. They signed their life away to become a slave to their husbands based on our country's laws in the 1860s. Frances “Fran” Meyer, Jackie ‘Bonzo’ Hager, and Debbie “Deb” Keiner all fall in love only to find out the man they loved was a traitor and fought for the Confederate forces. The fourth musketeer, Dianne Jenkins, has a lifelong secret she never reveals and has an extreme dislike for men. Although a strong word, some might even say she hated men. Then, Frances Meyer, who defects from the red, white, and blue, goes with her husband to fight for the South. Bonzo Hager is drafted by the Army of the Potomac and laughed at when she arrived to muster. She then asked her father to subsidize a substitute to fight for her. Then, there’s Debbie Keiner, the daughter of a Lutheran minister. She gives her heart and soul as a Sister of Mercy in the hospitals for many soldiers injured and killed in the war… both the Rebels and the Yankees. She also gives up her love for a man who left to fight under Robert E. Lee and the southern forces of the Confederacy. As sunlight enters into raindrops, so love enters the souls of these young women and emerges as their passions in State’s Rights and Women’s Rights. It is how they find their truth and purpose in life. It’s how the “Four Musketeers” give themselves to others. Throughout this story, they each discover that it’s love, which makes them who they are and how powerful forgiveness can be in their lives. Rights for women in the 1860s were withdrawn when she married. In general, women gave up so many property and civil rights when they said “I do” that it was said they entered a state of “Civil Death!” In 1860, women were trapped in their homes and performed domestic chores and duties. Their roles as a housewife were to bear children, as long as was feasibly possible. Also, to care for the children while submitting to their husbands’ every whim. It was prevalent for a family to consist of twelve or more children in the 1800s. “Women are already born so far ahead ability-wise. The day men can give birth, that’s when we can start talking about equal rights!” --- Chuck Palahniuk, American Novelist