The New York Times Book Review (NYTBR) features “Expression of Honor” by George Richardson and Ramona Vallee
George Richardson and Ramona Vallee’s masterpiece, “Expression of Honor,” was featured in the summer issue of The New York Times Book Review (NYTBR) Magazine of 2024.
Current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed in The New York Times Book Review (NYTBR), a weekly paper magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of The New York Times (an American daily newspaper with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to be a growing 6 million paid digital subscribers). It is one of the most well-known and significant book reviews in the business.
Author Ramona Vallee was born in December 1948 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to George and Eleanor Richardson. She had a wonderful childhood in a small town in America. She enjoyed reading, writing, and learning French in school during her teenage years.
She was discouraged by her college counselor, who told her that writing was an overcrowded field. She then decided to quit college. After working as a waitress, she saved money to go to beauty school and become a hairdresser.
She met her husband, Fred, of 42 years, on a blind date. He was a French Canadian, which intrigued her. They had three children. Long ago, she made a promise to her dad on his deathbed to finish the Civil War novel he started. Many years later, she’s finally able to fulfill her promise after writing “Expression of Honor” and feels at peace now.
George Richardson, born in 1920 in Indiana, was raised on a farm and became close to his grandfather, Homer Richardson. Homer shared stories of his experiences as a drummer boy in the Civil War. George served in the U.S. Army during WWII, focusing on the pursuit of German General Rommel. He later worked as a crew chief over airplane maintenance and witnessed the Yalta Conference, where Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt were together.
After the war, he married Eleanor Morgensen. Together, they had three children. Eleanor knew how much George treasured Homer’s stories, so she encouraged him to write a book about them. It would have fictional characters with true events using Homer’s stories, and George did research on the Civil War to fill any gaps.
In 1976, George became ill with two acute types of Leukemia. On his deathbed, he asked his daughter Ramona to rewrite it. He died at age 56.
Ramona was interviewed by Benji Cole from CBS Radio in the People of Distinction program. The said program is one of the most wide-ranging radio shows in the United States. Listen to the full interview here:
“Expression of Honor” is a Civil War romantic narrative. Juliette, a French woman, fell in love with a visiting Southern officer who had to leave for the United States before her. She later leaves on a blockade run. All of the disclosures, difficulties, and risks provide her with the courage and bravery to face each circumstance. After a decade of dealing with border ruffians and the carnage caused by pro-slavery against anti-slavery, Frank identifies as a Kansan.
In addition, the political struggle over the Kansas-Nebraska Act bred a bloody Kansas. Frank had had enough. He was prepared to fight in the Civil War as a Lieutenant Colonel under General Ulysses S. Grant.
Visit George Richardson & Ramona Vallee’s website at https://ramonavallee.com/.