The story
With her widowed mother buried in a pauper’s grave and her two younger siblings shipped off to live with their aunt in Denmark, Sorina Larsen feels as if she has been abandoned by man and God. Determined to bring the children back to America so that they can be a family again, Sorina joins her friend Grace Baum to take a job as a waitress for the Harvey company.
But even before Sorina sets foot on the train bound for Topeka, Kansas, she meets the mysterious Peter Jones. Can she allow herself to be beguiled by the devilish charm and carefree spirit of this handsome young trainman?
Is Peter best avoided? Or will he play a part in helping Sorina restore her lost family and find a home for her rebellious heart?
The background
The west may have been won by the cavalry and the gun, but it was civilized by the Harvey Girls. From the 1880s to the 1950s they came, leaving homes and families to seek a better life, adventure, freedom, money and romance. They served as waitresses in Fred Harvey’s restaurants along the Santa Fe Railroad and stayed, marrying the rich and not so rich miners and ranchers whose enterprises dotted the Southwest.
The Inspiration
In writing this book much fascinating research went into the history of Fred Harvey and the Harvey girls. But of all the stories, one of the most inspiring was the life of my friend, Barbara Wilder’s grandmother, upon whom this book is based.
In all good ways, my friend’s life reflected that same determination, grit and pioneering spirit of her beloved grandmother.