Hidden Hearts

Book excerpt: The original story of Hidden Hearts: The Peterborough Letters begins when Betty Beeby finds a cache of decades-old letters and diaries in an old barn on the family property in northern Michigan. Along with veteran journalist Larry Smith, she sorts and makes sense out of dozens of letters and diaries depicting a fascinating and colorful world long gone. This is the story of Minnie Griffin and the child she bore out of wedlock in 1876. Minnie is told her son is dead a month after his birth. Instead, unbeknownst to its mother, the child has been put up for adoption. Twenty-seven years later, the son, Loren Post, seeks Minnie out. By then she has an orderly, independent life as a dressmaker in Peterborough, Ontario. The shock of learning her son is alive shatters her peace and plunges her into a tumult of raging emotions. It is 1904 when Loren takes off to meet his best friend and road buddy, Norton Pearl, at the World's Fair in St. Louis. But first he must go to Peterborough to meet and spend a week with Minnie. The adventure will take the two young men to the fair and beyond, to New Orleans, Texas, the Grand Canyon, Oregon, and Montana while Minnie pursues him with letters posted via general delivery. Captivating and comical experiences spring to vibrant life through the original writings of the young men and women whose stories intersect with Minnie and Loren and Norton. Hidden Hearts: The Peterborough Letters is an extraordinary look into 1904 America. It portrays authentic hallmarks of a particular time in our history -- the earnest appetite for culture and self-improvement; the casual, unthinking racism and sexism; and the respect for hard work and endurance. But it is also a touching human story of a family reunited that will stay with you for a long time.