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The Bootmaker's Wife
The harsh and rugged Sand Hills of Nebraska in 1875 wasn’t the environment most young ladies brought up in a Victorian home in Illinois aspired to. But when Elizabeth Schultz receives a marriage proposal from Charles Horn, a bootmaker twenty years her senior, she readily accepts. A year later, she’s walking behind a covered wagon along the Oregon Trail as she makes her way to Nebraska to meet her fiancé and start a new life filled with, what she hopes will be, adventure and an opportunity to be her own person.
Elizabeth soon discovers, however, that life on the trail and in a sod house on the prairie is far more difficult than she imagined. Can she cope with the extreme weather, isolation, food insecurity, health challenges, and her husband’s dark side? Will her physical and emotional strength be enough to sustain her or will she give up and return to the comfortable life to which she’s accustomed?
Not only does Mershon Niesner give the reader the opportunity to spend fourteen months in the boots of a woman who has barely left girlhood behind, she immerses them in a startling vivid world where the heroine discovers the importance of caring about the environment, those who came before her, and friendship in a time and place where rugged individualism is revered.
The Bootmaker’s Wife is historical fiction based on the life of the author’s great grandparents.
The cover image was taken by the author in the Sand Hills of Nebraska in the vicinity where the Horn’s sod house once stood.
Elizabeth soon discovers, however, that life on the trail and in a sod house on the prairie is far more difficult than she imagined. Can she cope with the extreme weather, isolation, food insecurity, health challenges, and her husband’s dark side? Will her physical and emotional strength be enough to sustain her or will she give up and return to the comfortable life to which she’s accustomed?
Not only does Mershon Niesner give the reader the opportunity to spend fourteen months in the boots of a woman who has barely left girlhood behind, she immerses them in a startling vivid world where the heroine discovers the importance of caring about the environment, those who came before her, and friendship in a time and place where rugged individualism is revered.
The Bootmaker’s Wife is historical fiction based on the life of the author’s great grandparents.
The cover image was taken by the author in the Sand Hills of Nebraska in the vicinity where the Horn’s sod house once stood.
319 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 14, 2022
18 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2023
Writing style takes me there
Mershon Niesener’s book about her grandmother Elizabeth made me feel like I was right there experiencing her life. Couldn’t put it down.
Mershon Niesener’s book about her grandmother Elizabeth made me feel like I was right there experiencing her life. Couldn’t put it down.
February 2, 2023
A Must Read Book
This is an amazing ‘I don’t want to put it down book’ of life. The author writes with such vivid descriptions of things seen, felt, heard and imagined. I could feel myself there in that sod house and was moved by the incredible strength on every level of the Horns as they journeyed through their life. The loyalty of friendship through good and bad times reminded me of my upbringing in my family of many aunts, uncles, 26 first cousins and a close knit church and small town family.
Ms. Niesner is a gifted writer with words that easily envision the picture. I look forward to the next book about Angie. Thank you,
Pat Petrouski Kasprzak
This is an amazing ‘I don’t want to put it down book’ of life. The author writes with such vivid descriptions of things seen, felt, heard and imagined. I could feel myself there in that sod house and was moved by the incredible strength on every level of the Horns as they journeyed through their life. The loyalty of friendship through good and bad times reminded me of my upbringing in my family of many aunts, uncles, 26 first cousins and a close knit church and small town family.
Ms. Niesner is a gifted writer with words that easily envision the picture. I look forward to the next book about Angie. Thank you,
Pat Petrouski Kasprzak
October 5, 2024
Interesting story about life the late 1800s, based on the author's ancestors. A very young teen in Illinois travels with a wagon train to Nebraska to marry her fiance, who is 20 years her senior. She faces the many challenges of living in a sod house, and in the prairie, which are well described.
July 16, 2023
A little slow moving, and the ending felt rushed and like there was no real ending. Definitely left you wanting more.
April 3, 2024
relaxing read
This is a very well written and relaxing book to read. I recommend it as a palette cleanser 10/10 recommend
This is a very well written and relaxing book to read. I recommend it as a palette cleanser 10/10 recommend
October 31, 2025
Horrible AI narration
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews