Romancing the Genres: 19th century

I won the parent lottery. My parents read to me.

I won the first grade teacher lottery. I'll never forget Miss W's patience and kind explanations to my questions, including, "But how do you read so quickly?"

If you can read, you can learn anything.

Literacy rates in the Old West were lower than in education-focused New England.

Old West parents were more worried about harvesting the crop than their children's 100% attendance in one-room schoolhouses. In New England, well-to-do fathers saw their sons into high school as a preparation for college.
While the working poor of New England often did not need basic literacy skills (cotton mills and factory jobs), neither did most western pursuits: miners, railroad construction workers, and hired ranch hands.
Nineteenth Century Americans knew they needed a basic education. Without the ability to read a bill of sale or contract, swindlers had the advantage.
Old West Education often ceased at 8th grade--though a good percentage of students stopped attending before then. Whether orphaned or pressed into the work force, education, for many, proved to be a luxury.

TEACHERS are real-life heroes. Whether in a one-room schoolhouse on the dusty streets of an Old West town or in today's crowded classrooms, the work teachers do in building the future, investing in hope and possibilities and opportunity qualifies them as heroes.

Did you have a teacher who made all the difference for you?

Hi! I'm Kristin Holt, author of Sweet (wholesome, "clean") Romance set in the Victorian-era American West. Mail-order brides, small-town love stories, bonds strong enough to withstand significant challenges, and love to last a lifetime.

My engineer husband of nearly three decades rolls his eyes at my romanticism and fondness for happily ever afters. But he agrees with me--growing old together has been a beautiful journey. Given the opportunity, I'd do it all over again...and I'd still choose him. (Our 28th wedding anniversary is in two days, March 17th.)

I love hearing from readers. Please post a response here or stop by my website and say hello!

By Kristin Holt

www.KristinHolt.com

I’m a homebody. I’m fond of climate control, no matter the weather. I’d take an hour on the couch, a good book in hand over an hour spent in a crowded place, every single time. It’s more than physical comfort. Home can and should mean peace, quiet, safety. Home, ideally, encompasses association of family members. Home means belonging. Home means love.

Where else would phrases like “Home is where the heart is” and lyrics “Oh Give Me a Home… where seldom is heart a discouraging word…” and “I’ll be home for Christmas… You can count on me…” come from?

Perhaps that’s why many novels (I’ll focus on my genre, Historical Romance) include characters’ desires to belong and feel included. These desires are nearly universal to the human family. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs argues this as important enough to immediately follow basic survival requirements.

Whether “home” is a physical place or a sense of completion with another person (I am a romance writer), I suggest:

“Home is a key component of a compelling story.”

Both Josie and Lessie Hadley believe “home” is only with their identical twin sister. With no physical home, they choose a mail order bride situation where their grooms (cousins and business partners) will keep them together. By the end of each book, their understanding of Home and Family has expanded significantly to include husbands dearly loved.

A peek inside the beginning of Josie: Bride of New Mexico:

One of the best parts of having a sister, especially a twin sister— even better an identical twin sister— was everyone understood the two were a matched set, a pair.

Where one went, the other followed.

They belonged together. She’d always had someone. She was never alone.

The train picked up speed, the trees moving past in flashes of green and the first hint of autumn’s colors.

Josie swallowed her homesickness. The useless emotion wasn’t welcome for she had her sister, her strong, indomitable twin who had always been able to figure everything out.

She always put her trust in her sister. This time would be no different.

Lessie’s arms tightened about her. “Don’t worry, Josie. We’ll always have each other. I promise you that.”

“I know.” Her sister had never let her down. “I know.”

A peek inside the ending of The Drifter’s Proposal, when Malloy realizes he’s finally found “home”:

His heart, full to bursting, overflowed. How had he ever thought himself content without this woman by his side?

“Merry Christmas, darlin’.” His voice cracked. Tears threatened. He’d been gored by a bull, thrown from a bronco, busted a leg back in ‘92, and never once had he cried. He hadn’t known himself able.

“I don’t want to live without you, Adaline Whipple, not one more day.” His breath appeared as white clouds of steam in the frigid air. “Marry me. Let me sink my roots right here in Mountain Home with you. Give this homeless cowboy a place to belong.”

A peek inside the middle of WANTED: Midwife Bride, a new release exclusively within Mail Order Bride Collection: A Timeless Romance Anthology (2-9-16):

This tiny three-room cottage was the right place for her.

Here, it was easy to believe no other life existed.

…

…She marveled at the many ways he’d shown her love, affection, acceptance, appreciation— in every little thing. So much more than the new shingle. He’d made her his full partner in every way. He’d gone so far as to ask her opinion on financial matters. They’d visited the bank, and Joe had instructed the bankers to allow Naomi full access to their joint accounts.

Never had she felt more loved, more valued, more trusted.

She wanted their union to last the duration of their lives.

She wanted forever.

What do you think of my hypothesis?

Is a sense of “home” (structure/place and/or belonging and completion with another person) a key component of a compelling story?

Please reply to this post, and share with anyone who might find it appealing.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Real Heroes and Heroines: Teachers

Literacy rates in the Old West were lower than in education-focused New England.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

FAVORITE PLACE: Home