In the Wild West of the late 1800s, a pretty, pragmatic twenty-year-old named Polly is making ends meet as a lady of the night at Belle's Place, a brothel in Pendleton, Oregon. In a labyrinth of tunnels underneath the house, Ben, a Chinese immigrant, toils in his uncle's laundry and accepts his lot as an unwelcome stranger in America who dares not appear above ground after dark. Against all social codes of the day, these two outcasts begin a fragile love affair. The Third Step, an enthralling work of historical fiction by Sharon Hart Strickland, breathes new life into Oregon's Pendleton Underground of the late 1800s in a story of forbidden love between two social outcasts, and the colorful characters who inhabit their world. Based on historical fact and characters, The Third Step begins when Polly arrives at Belle's Place, a brothel in Pendleton, Oregon, to work in the only profession she knows. When she accidentally runs afoul of a prominent client, she becomes caught up in a series of events that change her life forever. Belle's bouncer, a stoic Native American name Quinton, is implicated in the events and must flee for his life, while Belle tries to cover everyone's tracks. When Polly is secretly nursed back to health in the laundry by Ben, the feelings that develop between the two of them fly in the face of the local society's rigid rules. A work of high drama leavened with gentle humor, The Third Step spins a tale of the Old West that is rarely chronicled in history books, but factually based and full of the courageous characters that were drawn to life in the West. There's the beautiful madame Belle; Ben's wise uncle, Lu Chung, who runs the laundry; Father Perigan, a de-frocked priest who holds services in the brothel's unlikely chapel; as well as hypocritical townsfolk, a prominent and arrogant judge, the Native American bouncer, and a mysterious state senator, among others.As Polly regains her strength, Ben has a reason to step beyond the subterranean world where he has been forced to live. Lovers of history will get a rare glimpse of the rough-edged and often discriminatory landscape of the American West, as Ben and Polly navigate a hostile climate in Pendleton and beyond. This powerful, poignant work delivers a fascinating tale that is rich in historical detail, colorful characters and good, old-fashioned romance. Anyone looking for a page-turning, wildly imaginative American tale will relish this trip out West where the conditions are harsh, but love, honor, and redemption can still prevail.
