I brought this book to the gym with me the other day and an acquaintance asked if it "was a love story?" I got a little self-conscious and said "no" but I've rethought that answer and would now have to say yes. It is Aldrich's story of her love of the Midwest, her pioneer forebearers, and family.

It chronicles the history of the American Midwest through the Martin family (parents, 2 boys, 7 girls) and their neighbors. No one escapes tragedy. But neither is it bereft of joy and humor. The author, through her characters, offers up wise thoughts on community, death, grief, war, love, historical giants like Lincoln, and duty. You can't help but want the best for this goodnatured family which, I understand, was largely based on Aldrich's grandparents.

Aldrich is often overlooked and unknown. But this is one of the underrecognized gems of any library and I'm glad it made its way to mine.

There are some issues with race (there are a couple of potential Native American scares and references to African slaves) that could be cleaned up if you're touchy about that sort of thing. I am but I take umbrage more at the Scotts for their errors than I do the Martins. ( )

A straight up sappy wild-west romance. Just what I needed at this time! Originally published in 1939 it tells the story of settlers to Iowa, Indian scares, the Civil War, church socials, one room school houses, and romance. It was very entertaining and a good read. Will look for some more of her writings, but they seem to be difficult to find. 429 pages ( )