This Familiar Heart (Winedale Publishing 2024) is a moving and memorable love story about an unlikely couple whose feelings were impassioned and despite any initial hesitancy forged a loving bond that lasted decades. Author Babette Fraser Hale has written a captivating book that doesn’t confine itself to the love she shared with her late husband. She provides an introspective view of the initial days of their relationship and their mindsets.
The backstory to the protagonists’ initial meeting proves vital. Hale is a charismatic Southern gentleman with a heart of gold and Babette is a woman with internal and external beauty. Their history has seen its ups and downs, but fate has seen fit to bring them into contact. However, it is up to them to determine if their love will be everlasting. Despite knowing the poignant conclusion, the winding road to that point is gratifying from start to finish. Fraser-Hale(“A Wall of Bright Dead Feathers”) has written a book of emotional depth and warmth that will find a wide audience.
Leon Hale’s valediction to his beloved wife was a promise to be kept by her after he left her world. Hale wanted Babette to write her revelatory version of him for a reading audience. Hale had lived a spirited life, yet his death in 2021 at age 99 still shook Babette. Her relationship with Hale lasted forty years and while there were many wonderful memories, the prospect of writing them down would be a true test.
Babette Fraser Hale
In 1981, Leon Hale was an acclaimed columnist at the Houston Post and a respected author. Babette Fraser was a budding writer working on a novel and sought Hale’s assistance on her project. A letter from Babette led to a phone call from Hale and the pair soon agreed to get together to talk and get acquainted. There is a spark within their initial introduction and another meet-up is planned. Their relationship has commenced on a platonic level, but there is an underlying intensity.
The fall of 1981 witnessed the growing pains of a blooming romance. Was Hale capable of settling down with one woman? Would Hale’s friends accept Babette? Would Babette’s son accept Hale coming into his mother’s life? These thoughts would bounce through their minds, but they would also communicate them with the other. A mutual understanding of each other’s personality would prove key to making things work. Ultimately, their relationship may have been atypical with regard to age difference and backgrounds, but the love they had for each other was transcendent and lasting.
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