Coming of age in the changing times of the mid-19th century.

In Emma Field, Book II, the young Canadian heroine of Book I has left home and now continues her adventures in the Hudson River Valley of New York State. Arriving as a teacher at the Nine Partners Boarding School, Emma soon becomes aware of the social inequalities of mid-19th century America. She is inspired by reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott at the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls. She then daringly assists the Quakers involved with freeing slaves on the Underground Railroad.

 

Excerpt from Book II: “Do you think me and Teachah Emma could become rich making honey?” asked Jessabelle-Rose [of the tall and gangly Gershom Butt].

“Potentially, you could! Not instantly, but if these hives do allow you to manage the bees as Beemaster Langstroth expects, you could earn an income from them and so could every farm woman in the country!”

Jessabelle-Rose danced in a circle, her hands flapping above her head. “A revolution – a tiny revolution out behind every barn in America!” She stopped abruptly. “But we need a second hive.”

“I will make thee one. It will be an act of precision I may not be capable of, but I shall try. And let us not make it a revolution, Jessabelle-Rose, for there are few revolutions that change things for the better. Let us work at simply altering things in our world.”

 

“There is an unusual and almost obsolete word – ‘clerisy’. The late Robertson Davies, one of Canada’s leading novelists, defined the word this way: ‘The clerisy are those who read for pleasure, but not for idleness; who read for pastime but not to kill time; who love books, but do not live by books’. I, as a member of the clerisy, read Ms. Williams’s books.” Vic, Retired soldier, consultant and keeper of goats

 

Carol Williams appears on television show Reader Corner with Doreen Barnes:

 

Notes on Book II:

Most of the places and many of the events and people in this book were real. For Companion Notes, go to Notes on Book II (PDF file)