Catherine and her step brother Guss had been living with his father since the death of Catherine’s mother several years earlier. However it was a far less than ideal situation. Hershal was often drunk and physically abusive. Catherine had been taking most of his beatings and abuse to keep Guss safe, but when Hershal began trying to touch her inappropriately, she knew that both she and Guss had to leave as soon as possible.
After exchanging a number of letters with a man in Colorado that had answered her ad in a mail order bride catalogue, Catherine left town with Guss as soon as Mr. Jeremiah Beals began to speak of marriage. She was so desperate to find a better home for the two of them that she didn’t even wait for Mr. Beals to propose. She and Guss simply snuck out of the house one night while Hershal was still asleep and left to go meet the man she hoped would marry her and take care of both Guss and herself.
This was another wonderful book in this series from Ms. Linnington. She is very good at describing the hardships of a less than ideal life and then comparing and contrasting said life with a much better situation in another part of the country. As always, her stories leave me smiling at the end, after having watched her characters be put through the wringer on their way towards what they hope will be a happy ending.
I enjoy her stories a great deal, and I believe that anyone who enjoys an often heart-wrenching mail order bride story will also enjoy this book.
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