Elizabeth Beier. The fabulous, dauntless, heroic, loyal lover of my pen. I feel like a contract player: blind, absolute, keep me by your side forever.
My rabbi, William Goldman, and his co-conspirator, Susan Burden, have lit my path on the darkest days with their support. They have read this in so many versions, and I will never be able to repay their generosity and love.
I owe an apology as much as thanks to my early readers, first sharp-eyed Cynthia Sweeney, and then Lauri Del Commune, Mindy Marin, Tina Constable, Kendra Harpster, Sloane Tanen, Susan Lauinger, Rick Monteith, and Judith Shulevitz. Everything you hated then is now gone. Jenny McPhee, Portia Racasi, Linda Greene, Jackie Maas, Jenny Blagen, Jen Strozier, Rebecca Odes, Jill Soloway, Bernie Boscoe, Jessica Gibbons, Anne Sansevero, Catherine Tangney, Karyn Gooden, Yuki Kimura, Sophie Terrisse, Jen Walther, Tristana Nesvig Trani, Natasha Lehrer, Ashley McDermott, and Holly Peterson—thank you for listening to me talk about “my novel” without rolling your eyes. All the members of the Scheibe-Flynn families for keeping me real. And also eternal thanks to my darling David Rakoff, whose words, though stopped, will always prod me forward.
To the everyday saints at the Gernert Company, in particular Logan Garrison, Anna Worrell, Rebecca Gardner, Stephanie Cabot, and Will Roberts. I thank my stars every time I think of how lucky Sarah and I are to have landed in your laps.
My home team away from home, St. Martin’s Press, who took one look at this book and said, “Yes,” and have been saying yes ever since: George Witte, Sally Richardson, Michelle Richter, Anya Lichtenstein, Frances Sayers, Emily Walters, Cheryl Mamaril, Jessica Lawrence, Ivan Lett, Kathryn Parise, and Laura Clark.
If I had three more pages, I would thank by name all the wonderful sales people and booksellers who still believe that the book is king. In their hands my hopes rest. Special thanks to Ruth Liebmann and Heather McCormack, because they know how to love books.
Many inspirations have sparked the writing of this book, first of which was an article in Real Simple by Liz Welch. Thanks to Brianna McNelly for digging in all the archives that the Internet still fails to reach, primarily those at North Dakota State University. North for the Harvest by Jim Norris is a fascinating look at the Mexican migrants working the sugar fields of the upper Midwest. Behind the Mask of Chivalry by Nancy MacLean helped guide me late in the game, verifying much of what was found in the archives at NDSU. The Minnesota Historical Society and the Clay County Historical Society were likewise wonderful resources. Many other books and articles were inspiring, but none more so than Candles in the Wind, a novel written and self-published decades ago by my late great-aunt Edris Probstfield Hack.
My kids are now old enough to get their own line: thank you, Bo, and thank you, Hedda, for letting me squirrel away and play with my imaginary friends while you are at school every day.
And you, Brian: As you wish.
About the Author
Amy Scheibe is the author of the novel What Do You Do All Day? She has written for Dame magazine, Seattle Weekly, and many other publications. Born in Minnesota and reared in North Dakota, she now lives in New York City with her husband and two children. You can sign up for email updates here.
Also by Amy Scheibe
What Do You Do All Day?
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Frontispiece
Dedication
Map
Epigraph
Prologue: His Wonders to Perform
Part I
Disinheritance
1. Faith Alone
2. The Bloom of Youth
3. A Single Comma
4. Clad in the Cloth
5. To Hold a Thing Unknown
6. A Reflection of Human Frailty
7. A Delicate Web Unwoven
Part II
Doubt Grows with Knowledge
9. The Fragility of Stars
10. A Wet Seed Wild
11. A Goodly Heritage
12. The Beauty of Patience
13. All Progress Is Precarious
14. Unseen Feet
15. My Peace Is Lost
16. When the Soul Is Touched
17. By a Soft Whisper
18. The Start of the New
19. Darkness Illuminated
20. A Collection of Order
Part III
A Child of Solitude
21. A Cold Day Gone Hot
22. Life with God Forever
23. Grace Alone
24. I Will Overturn, Overturn, Overturn It, and It Shall Be No More
Acknowledgments
Also by Amy Scheibe
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A FIREPROOF HOME FOR THE BRIDE. Copyright © 2015 by Amy Scheibe. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Fargo and Moorhead map © 2014 Adrienne Ottenberg. All rights reserved.
Frontispiece photograph from Ladies’ Home Journal circa 1920
Cover design by Olga Grlic
Cover photographs: house © MyLoupe/Getty Images; background © Shutterstock.com
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-04967-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-6970-7 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466869707
First Edition: March 2015