I run to you on the path of dreams Yet no night of dreams could ever compare to one waking glimpse |
The Path of Dreams is a romantic fantasy inspired by the traditional Japanese practice of the arranged marriage. The matchmakers in this case are an Osaka samurai academic and a Scottish Mormon polygamist. The union these two 19th century raconteurs plot for their great-great grandchildren is one their descendants never could have anticipated, for this o-miai exists only on "the path of dreams."
Though I am concerned about my reputation. I just realized I'm going to sleep with you on our first date.
Although they have never met before, a seemingly chance encounter leaves Elaine Chieko Packard and Connor McKenzie haunted by passionate dreams they cannot control. They determine to resolve the growing tension between the moral strictures of their religion and their own overpowering emotions by eloping, a decision that triggers an entirely unexpected series of events.
I've never read a novel that more perfectly captures the Mormon view of the perfect love story. — C.L. Hanson
In the days and months that follow, they find themselves reliving--in dreams and reality--many of the same conflicts their parents and grandparents once did. They come to realize that their lives cannot move forward until they have attended to the unsettled obligations of the past. As the prophet Malachi commanded, they must "turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers."
Book details
The Path of Dreams can be read in its entirety for free on this website. The trade paperback
The Adobe PDF, Mobipocket (Kindle compatible), and Microsoft Reader LIT versions are free downloads. Most other ebook formats are available at Smashwords.
I have tested the ePub version in Adobe Digital Editions and the EPUBReader plug-in for Firefox.
The author
Eugene Woodbury spent his childhood in the upstate New York community of Scotia-Glenville. After serving for two years in the LDS Tokyo South Mission, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.A. in Japanese and an M.A. in TESOL.
His stories have appeared in The New Era, Cricket, Sunstone, The American Gardener, and Clubhouse Magazine. He has twice been a Utah Original Writing Competition finalist and is a recipient of the Sunstone Foundation Moonstone Award for short fiction.
He lives in Orem, Utah, where he works as a free-lance writer and translator.
