A Bride for all Seasons

I received a copy of A BRIDE FOR ALL SEASONS from Thomas Nelson via BookSneeze.  It is known as the Mail-Order Bride Collection, which includes four novellas by well-known Christian writers.  Each story involves a different season in 1870: AND THEN CAME SPRING byu Margaret Brownley, AN EVER-AFTER SUMMER by Debra Clopton, AUTUMN’S ANGEL by Robin Lee Hatcher, and WINTER WEDDING BELLS by Mary Connealy.  I usually head for novels, but it is fun to read novella collections since you can read one per evening.  Each felt like a complete story, with backstory, heartbreak, romance, and danger.   I would have loved to read them as full-length novels and really get to know the characters, but the novellas were still satisfying. 

I’ve been interested in “mail-order brides” since reading a middle grade pioneer novel as a child.  It fascinated me that men would send for a woman they didn’t know, other than through letters, to wed them out west.  It fascinated me even more that these women would go, although I could understand the reasons behind each gender’s decision.  In this collection, a common theme is that the editor of the paper which advertises for men seeking wives edits the letters to make each person more desirable to the other.  Mayhem ensues, since each woman isn’t what the man wants, and vice versa.   My favorite novella was AUNTUMN’S ANGEL.  Now it’s time for you to pick your favorite…