Romance: The History of a Genre is a collection of essays devoted to the highly popular and no less controversial genre of romance. Will Olive and Jacob find the strength to fight their battles alone or together? Will love conquer the bitterness of loss and broken dreams? Real danger threatens Olive and Mary and John while Jacob and his own brood battle the day-to-day struggles for survival. Her niece and nephew, Mary and John, have been living with a neighboring farmer, widower Jacob Butler, the father of three young children of his own and a man still in pain from the recent loss of his wife. Accustomed to the sophistication of Philadelphia, Olive arrives in Spencer, Ohio, a rough and tumble world she is not familiar with, facing two traumatized children. She arrives to find the circumstances of her brother’s life deplorable and her long held beliefs of family and tradition, shaken. Spinster librarian, Olive Wilkins, is shocked to learn of her brother’s violent death at a saloon gaming table and her sister-in-law’s subsequent murder, traveling far from her staid life to rescue her niece and nephew, now orphans.
“Why?” Miss Wilkins asked as she lay down her utensils.Mary sopped bean drippings with her biscuit. Mary, what grade are you in?” Miss Wilkins asked and smiled at her niece. He evenly met her gaze and slowly pulled the utensil from his mouth. Jacob clenched the metal of his fork between his teeth as she inquired after his children’s schooling. Have they had any formal education?” she asked. Butler, I would like to begin instructing John and Mary and I hope you will allow me to include your children.
The meal was hot and filling and Jacob watched Miss Wilkins neatly dab her mouth. Her voice did not raise, nor did her eyes as she quietly reminded the children of their manners. “John, please use your fork,” Miss Wilkins said.Jacob looked up at her as he released his children’s hands from prayer and watched her evenly repeat her instructions.
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