THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409240101
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
The novel may be fiction, but the love story that inspired it was very real.
Portsmouth native Zita Winterberg Christian, a 1966 graduate of Portsmouth Catholic High School, has written her second novel, ``First and Forever.''
Set in the 1880s, the book is based on the real-life experience of Christian's grandmother, whose family immigrated to the United States from Germany.
The family settled in Missouri, where Christian's grandmother took a position as a maid for a very prominent family, eventually marrying one of the sons.
``Her husband didn't want to stay in Missouri, where the family business was established. He wanted to strike out on his own and go out to the Dakotas and homestead,'' said Christian.
Because she would have to leave her family, the move was a difficult one for Christian's grandmother.
``She said it was heart-wrenching, but she had married him and she loved him, so she went. And I thought the situation lent itself to a good romance novel,'' said Christian.
``First and Forever'' will be out in mid-October. Christian's first novel, ``Band of Gold,'' was released in August 1993. Sales of the first novel, said Christian, went well.
``I can't say that they were phenomenal, but for a first-time author - for a first book - it was good,'' she said. ``I was pleased, and the publisher was pleased.''
Both books were published by Harper Paperbacks.
Basically, ``First and Forever'' deals with ``the concept of security and how a traumatic loss can force a person to come to a new definition of what security means for that person,'' said Christian.
``I like to think of it as sort of a flag-waving, patriotic, pursue-the-American-dream story as told through the eyes of a young German immigrant,'' she said.
Christian, 47, grew up on Martin Avenue in Simonsdale. As a child, she attended Little Flower School, now Portsmouth Catholic Elementary, on Oregon Avenue.
``I remember walking around the school yard with Zita telling stories, and everyone would bunch together to listen,'' said Ann Balsamo Dwyer, a childhood friend of Christian's.
The oldest of three girls, Christian moved from Portsmouth to Rhode Island after a marriage at age 19. Several years later, she settled in Connecticut. She works part-time as a marketing assistant for a Hartford law firm.
``Right now, that's a paycheck every week,'' she said with a laugh. ``With writing, it's a paycheck every six months, and that's awfully hard to budget!''
Christian will sign copies of her book at Waldenbooks, Chesapeake Square Mall from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 19. ILLUSTRATION: Book cover
Cover of Zita Christian's second romance novel.
by CNB