In 1986, Elizabeth Ward Hoskins died leaving the contents of her home on Cape Cod to my husband, Donald Ward Bennett Edwards. He grew up in California unaware of his Ward family history in Boston. He had the opportunity while still a young boy to meet his great aunt, Elizabeth Bruen Perkins (Bessie), who speaks for the family in this biographical book which begins with her grandfather, Samuel Gray Ward, a prominent member of Boston's society and patron to many writers and artists. In Ralph Waldo Emerson's book, Letter to a Friend, the friend referred to is Samuel Gray Ward with whom he had a life long friendship. Elizabeth Hoskins, like many New England families of that era, never threw away items such as letters, news articles, scrapbooks and post cards. While working to dispose many of the items in the house unaware of the many famous people acquainted with the family, I discovered a manuscript dated 1928 written by Howard Ridgely Ward, the brother of Elizabeth Perkins. In it he described his life with the Thomas Wren Wards of New York and his Bostonian grandparents. It became obvious that there was a fascinating story to be written and so I began. It took two years to transcribe all the material at which time I began to relate closely with the course of the life of Elizabeth Perkins. Events, except for very few, in The Chess Queen actually took place, only the dialogue with its emotional content is my own. I know Bessie spoke through me to tell her story.
About the Author: Valerie once stated that she was born to leave home. To this day she is driven by extreme curiosity about the world and its fascinating cultures, history and in continual search for its humanity. She attended St. Johns College in Annapolis, Maryland where she met her soon-to-be husband, Don. Not having the money to continue her studies, she worked to help her husband finish his degree at Johns Hopkins while also taking courses. In later years they found themselves in New Jersey, finally living in Los Angeles now with three daughters. Valerie continued studies at a local college during which time the Watts riots exploded and they became involved in the growing urban crisis of Watts. With other activist friends they formed a community in the Watts area to create jobs, Headstart programs, employment and teen centers. The death of Robert F. Kennedy witnessed the decline of urban progress, and she and her husband decided it was time to leave the U.S. Six weeks later they found themselves in London, and later moved on to Kobe, Japan, New York, Rome, Italy and Paris. They returned to California in 1980 and Valerie entered U.C. Santa Cruz finishing a degree in European history. Looking back on her life she found she had been lucky to study all those years whatever took her interest, accruing a vast spectrum of knowledge from exploring the world. Her childhood dream. She continues to explore and is now living in Ajijic, Mexico.