Lena Rivers (1856), by Mary J. Holmes Novel (World Classic) Mary Jane Holmes

This novel, published in the 1850's, was a Kindle freebie. It is the story of Lena Rivers, and orphan growing up in the mountains of New England with her grandparents. Her mother died when she was a baby, and she never knew her father because he left her mother before she was born. When her grandfather dies, she and her mother go to live with her uncle in Kentucky. Her uncle is hen pecked by his wealthy wife, who is not happy about having to take in "poor relations," and her 3 children are spoiled. Lena's grandmother would be considered a "redneck" today, she even chewed tobacco! I loved her character too, she added many moments of hilarity to the story. The story is basically one of star crossed lovers, 3 couples who's lives are not working out because of the interference of her Lena's aunt, who believes her children should marry for for wealth and social position, not love. And there is also a story behind the secret of Lena's parentage. I enjoyed this story; it's not great literature, but it was fun read. The characters tended to be a little dramatic at times, especially Lena with all her fainting spells, but I think that style of writing was probably popular in novels of this kind in that day. Some of language is not politically correct either, especially in regards to the slaves, but I think that is because of the time it was written in; back then, there was no such thing as being "P.C." I looked up that author, Mary Jane Holmes, on Wikipedia; she was a quite prolific and best selling author of 39 novels during the mid to late 1800's, almost as popular as Harriet Beecher Stowe. I have a few of her other novels on my Kindle, and look forward to reading those too. Mary Jane Holmes (April 5, 1825 - October 6, 1907) was a bestselling and prolific American author who published 39 popular novels, as well as short stories. Her first novel sold 250,000 copies; and she had total sales of 2 million books in her lifetime, second only to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Portraying domestic life in small-town and rural settings, she examined gender relationships, as well as those of class and race. She also dealt with slavery and the American Civil War with a strong sense of moral justice. Since the late 20th century she has received fresh recognition and reappraisal, although her popular work was excluded from most 19th-century literary histories. On August 9, 1849 Hawes married Daniel Holmes, a graduate of Yale College from New York. They moved for a time to Versailles, Kentucky in the Bluegrass Region, where they both taught for a few years. These were formative years, as Holmes used the small-town, rural setting and people she knew as inspiration for her first novel and others set in the antebellum South.In 1852 the Holmes family returned to New York and settled in Brockport, a short distance west of Rochester, where Daniel read law and was ultimately admitted to the bar. He went into practice and also served in local politics. They had no children. Holmes' supportive marriage was one she used as a model for several portrayed in her novels.