Published: September 19, 2006 04:27 pm            

Letters describe life in an earlier time

By TERESA ATKERSON

Family Editor

The letters are fading and browning with age.

Of course, they are more than 100 years old. They tell a tale of a forbidden love in the Victorian era and give a glimpse into the way people lived long ago.

“Letters to Allie,” by Jackie Gould, is a romance novel, the fictionalized story of the courtship of her grandparents, Martin Gould and Allie Herrington.

In the book’s preface, Gould notes the letters written by her grandfather are real but “the story from Allie’s point of view is strictly from my imagination. I never knew her well.”

Gould says the letters are important not only because her grandfather wrote them but “they shed a little light on the everyday life of rural America before the turn of the last century.”

She also felt it was important to not edit the letters because “We are transported to an era of both simplicity and strict social mores” through them.

The letters are signed to a “friend” and contain veiled references of subdued emotions. The word, “love,” is not used since others might read the letters.

With a backdrop of rural Wisconsin, the book is set in the year 1895. The letters are dated from January of that year to October, just before the couple planned to wed.

The two are separated by 90 miles which is why there were so many letters to Allie. Gould said writing letters was the most common means of communication at the time. With trains being the fastest means of transportation, letters could be taken back and forth on each rail route.

Not only is the book fascinating because of the letters. It is also captivating with the author’s descriptive use of words. One can almost feel the cold weather and icy winds in January of 1895 as Allie drives a horse and cutter home after taking her soon-to-be fiancé to the railroad station. “Bare-limbed trees, silhouetted against the pale sky, were lighted by the glow of a half moon trying to pierce a thin overcast,” Gould writes in the first chapter. Gould also captivates the emotions the young Allie feels each time she sees Martin and the emotions of the other characters in the book.

This is one of those books that is hard to put down. The reader wants to continue on to see how the couple persists through the snags and barriers thrown at them during the beginnings of their romance.

The couple faces several almost insurmountable obstacles during their courtship. Allie is only 19 while Martin is 39. He is also divorced (for good reasons). But, divorce was considered scandalous at that time. Therefore, their match was called controversial.

Through the letters and each obstacle they overcome, their love appears to become much stronger.

And, now 111 years later, their legacy remains as a love story for the ages.

The book is available through Acacia Publishing, Inc., 1366 Thomas Road, Suite 305, Phoenix, AZ, 85014, or online at www.acaciapublishing.com.

Contact Teresa Atkerson at family@mcalesternews.com.

        

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