Review for
The $1100 Treasure
by Hank Valon

Hank Valon’s The $1110 Treasure is about the power of love and how one chance meeting can change someone’s life forever. Sean Michael O’Boyle had no clue as he walked down the boardwalk in Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee in 1862 he would soon meet his future wife and love, Matilda.

Matilda is a runaway slave girl trying to get to her son who was placed in a boarding school by her dead lover. Her first love was her old owner’s son, who treated her with respect and almost as an equal. She can read write and talk as well as any other white woman can. Matilda literally runs into Sean as she is trying escaping a cruel life of beatings and the possibly of being sold, never to see her son again. Sean quickly buys Matilda to protect her and they soon fall in love. He wants to make her his wife regardless of the stipulation society has placed on each of them. But things are not as bad as they seem. Sean is almost too good to be true. He is quite rich, enjoys life in general and wants Matilda to feel important and worthy of the new life he is offering her. They also come in contact with a new set of friends and neighbors who can see beyond the issues of skin color.

They soon find Matilda’s son Jeremiah as they embark on a bright new future. They are all aware of the perils of the Civil War and the fear that everything they are working for maybe taken away at a moment’s notice.

A story like this one has a very innocent feel even though the subject matter at times can be difficult to read. Valon doesn’t sugarcoat the way people talked to each other back then, especially when it comes to the topic of slaves. Sean and Matilda are two idealistic individuals who want the simple things in life and you wish the best for them. Historian and western fans should enjoy this story with a sweet romance and a wonderful portrayal of the South during a time of upheaval and uncomfortable race relations.

Kate Garrabrant

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