Strong Women Four Generations 1858-1982

Cornelia Fitch Prentiss is the energetic and fun-loving daughter of a demanding father and loving mother. Determined to overcome her father's abuse, she wants nothing more than to build a safe, loving home for her children.

Author Virginia S. Jones, Cornelia's youngest child, uses letters, diaries, and journals to provide rich accounts of Cornelia's life during the decadent 1920s and the drought and Depression of the 1930s. As wife of Harold Shrauger, Cornelia happily settles in Atlantic, Iowa, often hovering over her children as their lives play out. Through Cornelia's mother and grandmother-the sources of the family oral history-a detailed tapestry of stories reveals the characters of the family.

But one question must be answered. Will the pattern of abuse follow Cornelia and overflow into the lives of her children? "Virginia S. Jones has tackled one of the most basic, yet one of the most elusive and challenging subjects any writer can confront: unraveling the mysteries of the human heart. She cares deeply about her characters with such conviction that we, too, quickly learn to care for them. She has a first-rate story to tell, and tells it with grace and sensitivity. All in all, she has crafted a remarkably accomplished family memoir, one that will reward the reader on several levels. I look forward to reading more from this talented author, and I think that, when you finish this book, that you will feel the same."
-William R. Trotter, author of the nonfiction trilogy "The Civil War in North Carolina" and recent novels "Winter Fire, The Sands of Pride, " and "The Fires of Pride."