It was an offer I couldn't refuse.Having read the first book, Melinda and the Wild West, I looked forward to continuing my adventures with the second book in this series by Linda Weaver Clarke, Edith and the Mysterious Stranger, published in 2008. When the author graciously offered to send it to me, I jumped at the chance.
Set in 1904, this story takes place seven years after the end of the first book. Melinda is "with child", and having a difficult pregnancy. She's supposed to stay in bed and off her feet as much as possible, although she can't stand the restrictions. Her cousin, Edith, a nurse living in Salt Lake City, Utah, decides to visit her parents in Idaho and help Melinda get through her precarious pregnancy.
While caring for her cousin in Paris, Idaho, beautiful and "spunky" Edith attracts the attention of more than one suitor. Whereas Melinda and the Wild West focuses on the romance between Melinda and Gilbert, this book focuses on multiple romances. The first is the continued romance between Melinda and Gilbert, married now and more in love than ever. There's also a budding romance between Jenny and her father's young helper, David. Last but not least, admirers have taken a romantic interest in Edith. The first is Henry, a school administrator, who's educated and polite, but who believes a woman's place is in the home. Also interested in Edith is Joseph, a farmer and cowhand, who's self-educated and plays the guitar. But Edith is extremely picky when it comes to men.
"Many men had courted Edith, but she inevitably found fault with each one. Either he was too shy or too bold, too ignorant or too proud, too arrogant or too quiet, too short or too tall, too old or too young."Edith begins to get letters from a "mysterious stranger", and she shares these romantic letters with Melinda. The author based this story around the courtship of her parents, who wrote letters to each other before they ever met.
~Edith and the Mysterious Stranger, Linda Weaver Clarke
As with the first book, history is woven into the story. I learned that Irish immigrants brought the concept of dressing up on Halloween to America, and about the opening of the New York subway in 1904, a response to the terrible blizzard of 1888. An important aspect of this book, also evident in the first book, is the value of equality between the sexes, the emergence of early feminism, and the right to vote in some states. In these books, the central women have professions. Melinda is a teacher and Edith is a singer and a nurse. Traditional women's work--taking care of children and a home--is also appreciated and valued as real work. Even though his tone is stern, what Gilbert says here made me cheer:
'Don't talk to me about these so-called wifely duties. If a man can't help with the household chores, then what kind of husband is he, anyway? I tell you this, I enjoy helping and serving whenever I can. A man who comes in the house after his job is done and then sits down to read a newspaper while his wife is fixing the meal is no example of a husband who truly loves his wife. Why can't a husband help? Is there a written law that wives should wait on their husbands? I don't think so.'This book is an enticing combination of genres--Wild West, historical fiction, romance, Christian, mystery--that any reader age twelve and older should enjoy. I certainly did, and look forward to reading the third novel in the series, Jenny's Dream. Linda Weaver Clarke's books are fun to read, and full of adventure and romance.
~Edith and the Mysterious Stranger, Linda Weaver Clarke
Exciting news! The author is giving away one autographed copy of Edith and the Mysterious Stranger.
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