by Carolyn Thomas (Author)
Rose in Snow is a fictionalized account of the impact of the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company on the rural way of life, the rise of the middle class, and the conflicts that people of the day endured in 1837. Set in Sandwich, Massachusetts, this story reveals the connections townsfolk endeavor to make as they navigate a changing way of life. Widower Noble Foster, at age thirty-nine, faces the challenges of farming life on the land he inherited from his father. His will is tested when his wife Sara dies in childbirth, leaving him an infant to raise. The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company is encroaching on the pine forests surrounding his farm and he fears he will lose all that he loves. Meanwhile an ambitious mother connives to marry her youngest daughter to the newly widowed Noble. Smitten, Noble finds himself romantically entangled with the charming, young Emily Harrelson only to discover her intentions are impure. Through the story, a female reporter chronicles the changing events in town as well as Noble's romance. The story reflects the beauty of the land and the desires of people trying to hold on to the past while change is sweeping into their lives at every turn. Rose in Snow is a gentle and endearing story, which reminds us of the hardships, challenges, and hope that propels us onward.