SWEPT AWAY: A Johnstown Flood Novella
About this ebook
A Forbidden Love, a Neglected Dam, a Doomed Valley
Its 1889 and Johnstown Pennsylvania is booming - riding the wave of the Industrial Revolution. But for 18 year old Samuel Wulff, it's a grimy steel town with no escape from the mills. His one beacon is Abigail Walker, the pretty socialite he meets to steal kisses - and more. Theirs is a clandestine courtship though, as both their families vehemently disapprove.
But a threat far worse than their secret lurks in the bustling valley - an aging dam just 14 miles upriver. Behind it lurks the swollen waters of Lake Conemaugh. The South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club own it all, but have done little to repair the dam. When torrential rains pour down on Memorial Day, it is only a matter of time before the dam surrenders and they are all Swept Away.
A fateful tale of young lovers, tragic neglect, and a town doomed to extinctionSWEPT AWAY unfolds the weekend of the horrific Johnstown Flood, America’s worst tragedy before 9/11. Told from two young teenagers, an immigrant boy, and the affluent girl he secretly courts. Through their eyes, we witness the tragedy unfold, from the torrential rains of Memorial Day 1889, to the aging South Fork Dam, to the unstoppable, all-consuming wave. Samuel and Abigail live unwittingly its path. Can they escape the rushing wave?
About the author
Paul grew up in the mountains of Pennsylvania, the grandson of Polish coal miners. He wrote his first novel in college on a manual typewriter. If someone would have told him growing up that he'd one day end up a writer, he'd have told them they were drinking too much Yuengling. Though he's lived in Manhattan and Washington DC, Paul currently resides in North Carolina with his wife, two kids and two cats.
