Set in 1891, “A Heart Divided” is based on 47 original letters written by a beautiful young woman while traveling on a 3-month excursion. This woman, my great-grandmother Mary, boarded a train in Washington, DC enroute to California with her Aunt Emily, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. In Hays, KS the two women are joined by Mary’s beloved cousin Fred who will travel with them for the next 10 weeks.
“A Heart Divided” reveals one woman’s sense of adventure, her deeply entangled emotions, and her struggle to make the right choices. It is a story of American history, of spiritual battles as old as the Garden of Eden, and a reflection of a very different time in the traditional roles of women. Mary challenged those traditions, followed the lure to travel, and pushed the limits until she was able to reconcile all the pieces of a heart divided.
