The Lemon Jelly Cake (Prairie State Books)

A Prairie State Book
Supported by Nettie Lou Samuels
A surefire cure for the headaches and stomach upsets of the twenty-first century, The Lemon Jelly Cake carries readers back to kinder, gentler times in a small town at the turn of the last century. Evoking a forgotten America of lush lawns, bountiful summer picnics, and shady front porches, the tale is set when the day's toughest decision might have been what to serve for dinner or which suit or dress to wear.
 
In this edition, an introduction by longtime Millikin University faculty member and Findlay resident Dan Guillory situates the book and its charming tale firmly in the Central Illinois of 1900.
 
 

The late Madeline Babcock Smith, a lifelong Illinois resident, was born in Rochester and lived much of her life in Decatur. She published short stories, essays, and poetry in a number of newspapers and popular magazines. Dan Guillory, Hardy Distinguished Professor of English at Millikin University, Decatur, is the author of When the Waters Recede: Rescue and Recovery during the Great Flood, Living with Lincoln: Life and Art in the Heartland, and The Alligator Inventions, a book of poetry