Books where the History of the area is a key aspect of the story. Mail order & Western Romance book will rarely appear in this category. Most books will deal with American history.
Setting: De Smet, South Dakota 1890 & 1974.
Remember Cap Garland, a friend of Almanzo Wilder, husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder? A novel based on Cap & a young Mariah (she was Martha in These Happy Golden Years).
And in 1974, a young woman, Trixie Gowan, who is on the staff of the newspaper. She creates advertising art *and* her comic strip–“Lost Laura” loosely based on guess who? There is a connection between the women in the 1890 and the 1974 stories.
Rebekah and Joseph are a content couple with a sweet baby boy. However, sadly Rebekah’s father is again seriously ill.
A bad summer storm hits their homestead. Rebekah was already facing the loss of her father. Now her husband is severely injured. Will she lose both?
Isabella Garcia, 25, has lived with her aunt in opulence and is not happy to return to the mining town of Silver Veil to celebrate Christmas with her parents. Her beau, Diego Morales, is left behind in California. And her father sent a railroad businessman, Aaron Bailey, to escort her home who finds her to be spoiled and selfish.
Upon arrival, she finds the town has grown considerably, and sadly her father’s health is failing, A visitor makes a surprise visit with news that turns everything upside down. Brewing — trouble, changes. Can she rise to meet them or expect others to solve them?
My blurb …
Setting: 1861. A mining camp. Father, son and daughter who passing as a male. Yet another gold field. Father spends the gold as fast as it’s found on liquor & gambling while son & daughter toil long hours. Della is also expected to do all the things a woman would – laundry, shop, cook, clean. The law is fair, tough and swift. And Della Wolfe, known as Del, wishes she was anywhere but Bear Valley.
The year — 1778. Based on the author’s 6th-great-grandmother, Anna Stone does the unthinkable. With her family ill & starving at Valley Forge, she defies custom & rides alone — it’s 200 miles on horseback. She’s a mother of three & a healer. She feels she has to go despite the dangers of the terrain & people who prey on travelers. That alone makes for a good story, but she learns about a plot to overthrow Gen. Washington and now her ride is even more important …
This is only a small part of this book. There is so much more. Dr. Croft’s battles with an envious and far less learned doctor. Daniel, Nora’s almost-finance, works with Dr. Croft. How a diphtheria epidemic is handled. Midwives knew so much about birth, but their knowledge was ignored by the medical profession. You will…