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The Lieutenant’s Lady
When Linnie Colsworth comes from the East to visit relatives in Omaha, she is plunged into a wider, more hazardous world than she had ever known. In the wake of the Civil War, land seekers are pouring into the West and displacing the Indian tribes. Not interested in spending her days sewing and serving tea, Linnie travels up the Missouri to deliver a "Dear John" message to her cousin's fiancé, a handsome lieutenant - and suddenly becomes the wife of this stranger. They come to love and trust each other, but can they survive this raw frontier? Their harrowing story is based on the diary of a frontier wife.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1942
39 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Bess Streeter Aldrich
38 books145 followersBess Genevra Streeter Aldrich was one of Nebraska's most widely read and enjoyed authors. Her writing career spanned forty-some years, during which she published over 100 short stories and articles, nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, and one omnibus. In her work, she emphasized family values and recorded accurately Midwest pioneering history.
One of her books, Miss Bishop, was made into the movie, Cheers for Miss Bishop, and her short story, The Silent Stars Go By became the television show, The Gift of Love.
Bess graduated in 1901 from Iowa State Normal School, now known as the University of Northern Iowa, and taught for four years. She returned to Cedar Falls and worked as Assistant Supervisor at her alma mater, receiving an advanced degree in 1906. She married Charles Sweetzer Aldrich the following year.
In 1909 the Aldriches and Bess's sister and brother-in-law, Clara and John Cobb, bought the American Exchange Bank in Elmwood, Nebraska, and moved there with the Aldrich's two-month old daughter, Bess's widowed mother, and the Cobbs. Elmwood would become the locale, by whatever name she called it, of her many short stories, and it would also be the setting for some of her books.
Aldrich had won her first writing prize at fourteen and another at seventeen, having been writing stories since childhood. However, for two years after the family moved to Elmwood, Aldrich was too busy with local activities to write. Then in 1911 she saw a fiction contest announcement in the Ladies Home Journal and wrote a story in a few afternoons while the baby napped. Her story was one of six chosen from among some 2,000 entries. From that time on, Aldrich wrote whenever she could find a moment between caring for her growing family and her household chores. Indeed, she commented that, in the early days, many a story was liberally sprinkled with dishwater as she jotted down words or ideas while she worked. Aldrich's first book, Mother Mason, a compilation of short stories, was published in 1924.
In May 1925, shortly before her second book, Rim of the Prairie was published, Charles Aldrich died of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving Bess a widow with four children ranging from four to sixteen. Her writing now became the means of family support; with her pen she put all the children through college.
Aldrich's short stories were as eagerly sought and read as her novels, and she became one of the best paid magazine writers of the time. Her work appeared in such magazines as The American, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and McCall's. Aldrich also wrote several pieces on the art of writing, and these were published in The Writer.
In 1934, Aldrich was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Nebraska, and in 1949 she received the Iowa Authors Outstanding Contributions to Literature Award. She was posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973.
One of her books, Miss Bishop, was made into the movie, Cheers for Miss Bishop, and her short story, The Silent Stars Go By became the television show, The Gift of Love.
Bess graduated in 1901 from Iowa State Normal School, now known as the University of Northern Iowa, and taught for four years. She returned to Cedar Falls and worked as Assistant Supervisor at her alma mater, receiving an advanced degree in 1906. She married Charles Sweetzer Aldrich the following year.
In 1909 the Aldriches and Bess's sister and brother-in-law, Clara and John Cobb, bought the American Exchange Bank in Elmwood, Nebraska, and moved there with the Aldrich's two-month old daughter, Bess's widowed mother, and the Cobbs. Elmwood would become the locale, by whatever name she called it, of her many short stories, and it would also be the setting for some of her books.
Aldrich had won her first writing prize at fourteen and another at seventeen, having been writing stories since childhood. However, for two years after the family moved to Elmwood, Aldrich was too busy with local activities to write. Then in 1911 she saw a fiction contest announcement in the Ladies Home Journal and wrote a story in a few afternoons while the baby napped. Her story was one of six chosen from among some 2,000 entries. From that time on, Aldrich wrote whenever she could find a moment between caring for her growing family and her household chores. Indeed, she commented that, in the early days, many a story was liberally sprinkled with dishwater as she jotted down words or ideas while she worked. Aldrich's first book, Mother Mason, a compilation of short stories, was published in 1924.
In May 1925, shortly before her second book, Rim of the Prairie was published, Charles Aldrich died of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving Bess a widow with four children ranging from four to sixteen. Her writing now became the means of family support; with her pen she put all the children through college.
Aldrich's short stories were as eagerly sought and read as her novels, and she became one of the best paid magazine writers of the time. Her work appeared in such magazines as The American, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and McCall's. Aldrich also wrote several pieces on the art of writing, and these were published in The Writer.
In 1934, Aldrich was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Nebraska, and in 1949 she received the Iowa Authors Outstanding Contributions to Literature Award. She was posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 10, 2011
This is the second novel that I've read by Aldrich. The first was A Lantern in her Hand, the novel for which Aldrich is best known. I won The Lieutenant's Lady from a blog give-away in 2010 and read it shortly after visiting Aldrich's house for the first time in March 2011 (I wrote a blog post about the visit that you can read here: http://bit.ly/dRNYhJ).
The Lieutenant's Lady is about a young woman, Linnie, from the East who's visiting relatives in Omaha, Nebraska in the late 1860s shortly after Nebraska gains statehood. Omaha is booming, the Civil War is over, and the US Army has turned its attention to making the western lands safe for white settlement. On her way home to the East, Linnie ends up traveling up the Missouri River to tell her cousin's fiance, a lieutenant in the Army stationed at a remote fort, that he's lost his betrothed to another man. Our heroine is already smitten with the young lieutenant. He's understandably upset when Linnie shows up rather than his bride-to-be, but he marries Linnie the day she arrives for the sake of her safety and saving face. They eventually fall in love while dealing with the hardships and dangers of Army life on the plains.
The story is based on the diary of an Army wife that someone sent to Aldrich--she was known for collecting pioneer stories to authenticate her fiction. I'd love to read the original diary to see what Aldrich made up and what she may have left out. The novel was published in 1942 and I wonder if Aldrich chose this story as her subject due to the pro-army feeling she was be able to create.
I enjoyed The Lieutenant's Lady and recommend it to readers who are interested in the historical time period and/or western literature. It's the kind of book I loved to read and deconstruct as an undergraduate. Racial attitudes, service vs greed, and gender issues abound in this novel.
The Lieutenant's Lady is about a young woman, Linnie, from the East who's visiting relatives in Omaha, Nebraska in the late 1860s shortly after Nebraska gains statehood. Omaha is booming, the Civil War is over, and the US Army has turned its attention to making the western lands safe for white settlement. On her way home to the East, Linnie ends up traveling up the Missouri River to tell her cousin's fiance, a lieutenant in the Army stationed at a remote fort, that he's lost his betrothed to another man. Our heroine is already smitten with the young lieutenant. He's understandably upset when Linnie shows up rather than his bride-to-be, but he marries Linnie the day she arrives for the sake of her safety and saving face. They eventually fall in love while dealing with the hardships and dangers of Army life on the plains.
The story is based on the diary of an Army wife that someone sent to Aldrich--she was known for collecting pioneer stories to authenticate her fiction. I'd love to read the original diary to see what Aldrich made up and what she may have left out. The novel was published in 1942 and I wonder if Aldrich chose this story as her subject due to the pro-army feeling she was be able to create.
I enjoyed The Lieutenant's Lady and recommend it to readers who are interested in the historical time period and/or western literature. It's the kind of book I loved to read and deconstruct as an undergraduate. Racial attitudes, service vs greed, and gender issues abound in this novel.
November 13, 2020
This is better than average vintage fiction. It is politically incorrect by modern standards because of anti-Native American sentiments, but it was based on actual diaries from that time period and reflects the way people viewed Indians. There is a moment in the book when Linnie realizes that all women, regardless of race, social status, etc, suffer in the same way.
I liked the story, but felt that the resolution was too sudden. It is never really explained why the lieutenant chooses one woman over the other.
I liked the story, but felt that the resolution was too sudden. It is never really explained why the lieutenant chooses one woman over the other.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2008
It was a promising plot, and while the story was fairly good, the writing just was NOT as good as A Lantern in Her Hand. I never felt the deep connection to the narrator like I did in Lantern. But ok.
March 22, 2023
I just can't stop with this author. A glimpse of remote army-wife life on the Missouri River in the 1860s. Such details .
November 2, 2024
Quick read. I guess this was romance in the 1860s. I loved when he was like “yeah girl you’re not leaving on that boat.” Paraphrasing of course.
“Orders is orders.”
“I can manage it.”
“Orders is orders.”
“I can manage it.”
November 7, 2012
Well, this was certainly a big disappointment! I had never read this title, but I have read, over and over, all of her other books, and all of her short stories. This was simply not up to her standards! Where is her trademark humor? I just didn;t care about any of the people in this book, the way I cared about Abby Deal, and Laura, Abby's granddaughter, and Miss Bishop, and Mother Mason. I really can't recommend this book to anyone, and especially I would tell all Aldrich lovers to pass this one by! It was almost as if it was written by a different author.
November 1, 2022
This is the story about a young woman in the mid 1860s who must keep her promise to her cousin to let her cousin's fiance know that she has jilted him and married someone else. Her decision to keep that promise and how she does it leads her into a life she could never have imagined! Long, difficult treks, a dangerous life in primitive forts, never knowing if they'll survive Indian attacks. It's one of Bess Streeter Aldrich's best books. I've read three of hers now.
July 24, 2024
This book was enjoyable to hear more about the early days of Omaha as well as the Army. The accounts of the river journeys, the old forts, & even the housing were delightful insights into days gone by. The plot & story were a little basic, but it still was a nice read due to the insight into the past.
April 26, 2021
Loved this book - history with a story of romance as the backdrop. One of my favorite authors. I’ve read all her books because they describe the settling of Nebraska where part of my ancestry homesteaded.
September 3, 2025
This book is a historical romance novel. It is about a women who lives on the east coast who comes down to Omaha to visit her Uncle and Aunt. There at a party with her cousin she meets the lutient. This book, which is set in the 1940s, shows how a woman finds her voice in the strict millitary. Learning to love the Lieutenant whom she married really quickly. I love this book because it shows how individulism and learning to love together is really important in a realationship. This is one that kept me turning the pages.
July 13, 2021
My kind of romance!
I'd rather read of hardships and rough weather any time of the day or night than the sappy sad lines of modern authors: 1st she/he hated/refused the newcomer. Then they were thrown together and changed their minds. This one is authentic and lovely and true to life. Ms. Aldrich is a fabulous author!
I'd rather read of hardships and rough weather any time of the day or night than the sappy sad lines of modern authors: 1st she/he hated/refused the newcomer. Then they were thrown together and changed their minds. This one is authentic and lovely and true to life. Ms. Aldrich is a fabulous author!
September 6, 2021
I read this immediately after The Big Sky. They kind of complement each other by covering the same territory, which coincidentally is territory I recently visited. This was a reread after 30 or so years.
October 24, 2023
A Lady to Be Honored
This is a story of a young woman in a different time period of our history who chose what was most important amongst the clamor of competing values. She made mistakes but she learned from them. She was honored by those who truly loved her. A woman of value.
This is a story of a young woman in a different time period of our history who chose what was most important amongst the clamor of competing values. She made mistakes but she learned from them. She was honored by those who truly loved her. A woman of value.
August 21, 2019
Sweet romance set in the Late 1860s in Nebraska and the Montana Territory.
April 14, 2020
Quite descriptive of the times and landscape of the late 1860's. Hardships abound for the soldiers and their ladies.
April 22, 2022
This book is based on part of a woman's diary, so it was interesting history reading for me.
February 28, 2024
Couldn't put it down!
Great story of post civil war military life in Nebraska from a female point of view. This is a must read.
Great story of post civil war military life in Nebraska from a female point of view. This is a must read.
November 15, 2025
I fell in love with Aldrich's writing when I was a teen--approx 50 yrs ago. A Lantern in Her Hand. Finally giving her other novels a try. Such a talent for making you feel the entire experience!
February 28, 2021
This was recommended to me when I asked for a sweet love story with a happy ending, and unfortunately, it turned out to be a major disappointment. The writing felt very juvenile and immature (perhaps it was one of her early works?), the characters flat and unsympathetic, the relationships without depth, and complicated issues of race and conflict were not addressed well. Not recommended.
September 24, 2012
One of my favorite books from my favorite Nebraska author. I know--Willa Cather gets the literary glory and Mari Sandoz wins praise for historical chronicling, but Aldrich is just...my kind of woman and writer. She tells stories about people you can identify with or find among the leaves of your family tree; she seasons them with mercy and affection, never giving into their faults nor glorifying them to sainthood. She writes of home and family, of hardship and joys, recounting tears and triumph even-handedly.
"The Lieutenant's Lady" is her retelling of a life, recorded in an actual diary. A young woman comes to Omaha in 1866, as Nebraska makes the transition from territory to statehood and with the oncoming railroad a new city rises from the plains. But Omaha is just the jumping-off point for the rest of the story as young Linnie takes a chance on an adventure, travelling up the Missouri River to a frontier fort to deliver a message for her cousin. However...well, let's just say a single woman in that day and time had few options and she ends up married "for her protection" to a young lieutenant, her cousin's now-jilted fiance.
The outward trials of a life she was unprepared for mirror Linnie's internal struggle with living with a man she greatly admires but who had another love in mind. Aldrich traces the struggle with a tender matter-of-factness, never minimizing the good and growth, or neglecting the insecurities of a woman's heart. A deft hand at work indeed.
This is probably my third or fourth time through "The Lieutenant's Lady." And this time, more than before, I wanted to get my hands on the original diary. Or to just see old tintypes of Linnie and her Lieutenant. The story bookends with a perspective of memory and life beyond these 2 recorded years, but it left me wanting to see more. And wondering how it would translate for film.
Either way, if you've haven't read Aldrich or you enjoy reality-rooted historical fiction, hunt up a copy of "The Lieutenant's Lady." It's been out of print for awhile but that's what libraries and used book stores are for. If, by the way, you've read Stephanie Grace Whitson's "A Most Unsuitable Match" you may notice some similarities in timing and territory.
"The Lieutenant's Lady" is her retelling of a life, recorded in an actual diary. A young woman comes to Omaha in 1866, as Nebraska makes the transition from territory to statehood and with the oncoming railroad a new city rises from the plains. But Omaha is just the jumping-off point for the rest of the story as young Linnie takes a chance on an adventure, travelling up the Missouri River to a frontier fort to deliver a message for her cousin. However...well, let's just say a single woman in that day and time had few options and she ends up married "for her protection" to a young lieutenant, her cousin's now-jilted fiance.
The outward trials of a life she was unprepared for mirror Linnie's internal struggle with living with a man she greatly admires but who had another love in mind. Aldrich traces the struggle with a tender matter-of-factness, never minimizing the good and growth, or neglecting the insecurities of a woman's heart. A deft hand at work indeed.
This is probably my third or fourth time through "The Lieutenant's Lady." And this time, more than before, I wanted to get my hands on the original diary. Or to just see old tintypes of Linnie and her Lieutenant. The story bookends with a perspective of memory and life beyond these 2 recorded years, but it left me wanting to see more. And wondering how it would translate for film.
Either way, if you've haven't read Aldrich or you enjoy reality-rooted historical fiction, hunt up a copy of "The Lieutenant's Lady." It's been out of print for awhile but that's what libraries and used book stores are for. If, by the way, you've read Stephanie Grace Whitson's "A Most Unsuitable Match" you may notice some similarities in timing and territory.
September 5, 2015
Though written in a narrative style that is little used today, I enjoyed this story. The plot is based on the diary kept by Linnie Colsworth who, in 1867, traveled up the Missouri River by steamboat from Omaha. Her mission was to deliver a Dear John letter from her cousin, Cynthia, to Lieutenant Norman Stafford who was stationed at a frontier fort. She traveled alone on what was to be an arduous journey along the many twists and turns of the river, through lonely unsettled territory that was inhabited by mercurial Indian tribes.
I knew from the book's description that Linnie would get married to the Lieutenant. I was very curious about how this would happen because Linnie hardly knew the man. I also wondered about frontier fort life. What was it like to live in a fort during that time period? I wanted to know how the wives cooked and cleaned, what they ate, how did they spend their days, and how did they keep from going stir crazy?
Though Aldrich skimmed over many details that I think would have made a more exciting story, her narrative did tell about how Linnie coped with homesickness, doubts about her husband's devotion, fears over Indian fighting, holding school for the multi-aged children, the harsh weather, and the unforgiving land.
I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in a realistic take on early Omaha days, travel on the Missouri at the dawn of white settlement, and a bold, naive nineteenth century women.
If you are expecting to read a politically correct view of native Americans or a bodice-ripping romance, than this would not be the story for you.
I knew from the book's description that Linnie would get married to the Lieutenant. I was very curious about how this would happen because Linnie hardly knew the man. I also wondered about frontier fort life. What was it like to live in a fort during that time period? I wanted to know how the wives cooked and cleaned, what they ate, how did they spend their days, and how did they keep from going stir crazy?
Though Aldrich skimmed over many details that I think would have made a more exciting story, her narrative did tell about how Linnie coped with homesickness, doubts about her husband's devotion, fears over Indian fighting, holding school for the multi-aged children, the harsh weather, and the unforgiving land.
I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in a realistic take on early Omaha days, travel on the Missouri at the dawn of white settlement, and a bold, naive nineteenth century women.
If you are expecting to read a politically correct view of native Americans or a bodice-ripping romance, than this would not be the story for you.
December 11, 2018
Based on a true story, I found this book to be an absolutely fascinating tale of a woman. I leaned towards a 4.5 rating because there was a point when Norman and Linnie should have hashed it out. I understand why communication was limited for a large portion of the novel, but that last chapter deserved some sort of communication resolution. I was so enthralled by the rest that I chose to overlook it. The historic tidbits were juicy, as were the sly glimpses into characters like Henry. I'm glad I found a library that owned it.
October 29, 2008
This novel, based on the diary of an actual army wife, gives a vivid picture of army life on the frontier while telling one of the most unusual courtship stories you can find. It begins in Omaha in the late 1860's at a party. It ends in the same house where it began -- but a world of adventure and emotion fills the time between. It's hard for me to pick my favorite Aldrich novel, but I know this one is near the top of the lis
July 26, 2016
I enjoyed this book as a young girl. Great historical fiction about the settling of the frontier. The romance is very unconventional. Linnie decides to deliver a "Dear John" letter from her cousin in person by traveling to the fort where the soldier is stationed. With winter setting in and no way to get her back home, circumstances force a quick wedding. They go through many trials and eventually realize they've grown to love one other.
November 13, 2023
2nd time thru. Just as good as the first. Bess Streeter Aldrich is one of the best. I see some people calling it a romance. And while there are some sweet moments, I would not call it a romance novel. There is nothing romantic about her life or her "romance." She doesn't get a romance, she gets a marriage, and it takes the whole book, until nearly the last paragraph, to understand what that means.
November 9, 2009
Based on the journals of an actual soldier's wife living on the frontier of Nebraska in 1868. She and her husband travel up the Missouri River with the US Army in order to quell Indian insurrections at out posts deep into Montana and Dakota territory. Interesting narrative perspective, but not much detail.
August 14, 2023
A fun, day read. Enjoyable and clean in true Aldrich style. Interesting main herione and interesting storyline. A fun, light romance with a bit of real life to it for anyone who needs a filler sort of book that is still worthwhile in its own way.
*4 year later edit: still a fun read. Still my favorite fun, quick romance book.
*4 year later edit: still a fun read. Still my favorite fun, quick romance book.
November 7, 2010
A newly discovered author for me- Bess Streeter Aldrich. Her story of a woman on the American frontier is beautiful and descriptive. I enjoyed this book, although I found certain plot elements a little unrealistic.
January 22, 2020
I read this book many years ago and.I've looked for it many times on.line. I was so happy to find it. This book.is still good after all these years. It's hard to believe it was taking place in the 1860's and look how far we've come!! Great read!!!
November 21, 2007
Another good one to read. I haven't re-read it like some of her other books but it is still very good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews