Portrait of a Prairie Woman: Learning to Love the Land and the People. This item is unavailable.Portrait of a Prairie Woman: Learning to Love the Land and the People

Mable Richmond’s childhood was defined by lace, social acceptance, and a proper education in the thriving city of Melrose, Minnesota. But less than eight years later, at age twenty-four, she was unmarried, pregnant, and abandoned on a homestead in the Montana prairie. Her family moved west following a dominating father’s construction jobs. In 1913 she filed a homestead claim in North-Central Montana and everything changed. Her mother died, her father left her alone on the prairie, and her boyfriend left her pregnant with her first child. Harry Green came into this chaos, married her, and became a loving father to their children. In 1926 Harry was killed in a railroad accident and again Mabel was alone with five young children. Through it all she found strength, and learned the importance of friends and community. Women of the early Twentieth Century were eager to break away from the expectations of the Victorian Age. They wanted their independence, the right to vote, and a voice in their community. Portrait of a Prairie Woman, an 80,000 word historical novel, is the story of Mabel Richmond’s struggles to overcome the obstacles of homesteading on the Great Plains. Portrait of a Prairie Woman is a microcosm of America’s entry into the modern era. It is a story of perseverance, courage, and patience in the face of changing times and expectations. This book should resonate not only with women, but with anyone interested in America in the early Twentieth Century.