Sixteen Brides (37 page)
Authors: Stephanie Grace Whitson
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
ATTRACTIVE WIDOWS
I
was sitting at a desk at the Nebraska State Historical Society Archives researching a quilt documentation book when that headline caught my eye. “Another cargo of war widows arrived . . .” As questions like
how
and
why
and
what if
flew through my mind, I knew that I was on my way to a new adventure with imaginary friends who would eventually populate my next novel. When further research revealed that hundreds of single women successfully homesteaded in the west, Sally and Ruth and Caroline and Ella and Hettie became more and more real to me, and I couldn’t let them go.
Five
women’s stories in one book? I’d never tried that before. Could I do it? Truth be told, there were times during the writing of
Sixteen Brides
when I felt more like I was wrestling a behemoth than telling a story. If you enjoyed reading about the women we came to call the “Fav-Five,” the credit goes to Ann Parrish and the other Bethany House editors who unselfishly gave of their time to help me win the wrestling match with the “biggest” story I’ve ever attempted.
Thank you, Bethany House Publishers, for continuing to believe in my work and support it. Thank you, Ann. Your friendship and editing expertise are among the best of God’s blessings to me. Thanks to Marge Caldwell and Brooke Reinhard for reading the early editions and pointing out flaws, and to the Kansas Eight who brainstorm and answer middle-of-the-night panicked emails with love and support and, best of all, faithful prayer. Thanks also to the women of Nebraska’s Dawson County Historical Society who helped me unearth “the real story” behind my imaginary tale. (Errors in the history are mine, not theirs.) Thank
you
, dear reader, for allowing me a novelist’s license to adjust a few—just a few, mind you—details and dates.
God has a way of yanking me into the unknown and bringing me to the end of myself for the express purpose of drawing me closer to him. Not surprisingly, that’s what he does with the women of the Ladies Emigration Society in
Sixteen Brides
. Thank you for making time to head west with them. I hope you found joy in the journey.
Grace and peace to you and yours, Stephanie
MORE FROM
Stephanie Grace Whitson
When Mattie O’Keefe arrives in Deadwood, South Dakota, she finds the future she hoped for shattered. Determined to claim a fresh start, Mattie soon must decide where true riches lie—and what’s worth dying for.
A Claim of Her Own
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