Lady's Choice

When John McPhee discovered these journals he found that Ethel Waxham wrote with such wit insight grace irony compassion sarcasm stylistic elegance and embracing humor that I could not resist her. Waxham was a Wellesley graduate who decided in 1905 to accept a teaching job at a one-room school in Wyoming. Viewers of the the PBS series The West in which this material was used will enjoy this intimate look at her five-year courtship by John Love and her attempts as well as those of her college-educated friends to pursue higher education and a career.These letters are among the treasures of American history bringing to life an adventurous quick witted woman and the laconic but determined man who wooed and won her. Together the Loves redefine our understanding of the American Dream and what it took to win the West.--Geoffrey C. Ward and Dayton Duncan coauthors The West (PBS).