September 22, 2026
Historical Fiction
Date Published: 09-23-2026
Publisher: Echoes Publishing
At the turn of the century, twenty-three-year-old Paul Tietjens is a gifted classical pianist with dreams of greatness and a non-refundable ticket to Europe to study with the master composers of his time.
But when the bank calls in the debt on his family’s Missouri farm, Paul forgoes his dream to save them from financial ruin. Desperate to find a new road to success, he moves to up-and-coming Chicago, where he persuades author L. Frank Baum to collaborate on a comic opera of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, setting the stage for the defining cultural touchstone that we know today.
Paul embarks on his opera with high hopes, but scandal threatens his soaring ambition when he falls in love with his best friend’s beautiful but married sister, and his fears grow as the Wizard of Oz demands not only his talent but his soul.
Inspired by Paul’s 1901 diary, The Lark follows Paul as he journeys from the theaters of Chicago to the streets of Manhattan, from his family’s Missouri farm to the beaches of Michigan, fighting to hang onto the chance of a lifetime, his integrity, and the woman he loves.
From Chapter 27 of The Lark by Laura C. Rader
After lunch, I sat at the parlor piano and ran through some of the songs
for The Wizard of Oz, replaying each moment with Katherine in my mind as my
fingers played the keys. She sat nearby, silently reading Persuasion, our
glances meeting now and again as Daisy played with Lina and Vita in between
sorting through the boarding house accounts. I mulled over the sanctity of
marriage, the frailties of the heart, and the ominous predictions of the palm
reader. My fate was surely sealed, and I only prayed I hadn’t somehow
thrown Katherine’s completely off course.
In addition to The Lark, Laura C. Rader is the award-winning author of the historical novel Hatfield 1677, based on the lives of her ancestors in Hatfield, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century.
When she isn’t writing, you can find her researching history for her books and her family tree and spending time with family, friends, and pets.
A native of southern California, she now lives north of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Please go to www.lcrwriter.com for more info on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter.
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