To Della Ander’s relatives, it seems like an absurd whim when the young educator accepts a contract to teach in Winter Quarters, a coal mining camp near Scofield, Utah. After all, she lives with a socially prominent family in Salt Lake City. Why teach in a place as hard as a coal mining camp, even if the Winter Quarters mines have an enviable reputation for safety?
It’s no whim to Della. She yearns to reconnect with the life she knew as a child, before tragedy yanked her from a home equal parts ramshackle and loving. But when disaster strikes, what the teacher learns in Winter Quarters will change her life forever, and her heart.
Based around the true events of the Scofield Mine Disaster of 1900, this suspenseful new romance from award-winning and bestselling author Carla Kelly is sure to please longtime fans and new readers alike. Thrilling and heartfelt, it’s a must-read.
Carla, I had to email and let you know that I just finished My Loving Vigil Keeping and was blown away. As usual, you write the way I’d like to be able to write. I was so moved, and while I knew darn well that Owen must have survived the mine disaster, for a few pages there I was right with Della and Angharad mourning his death and the death of so many of his friends. When I finished the book (much relieved that Owen has seen the sense in becoming a carpenter!) I read your afterword and was fascinated by the historical bits and pieces you provided about the real people who survived the tragedy. I even went to FamilySearch and did some census lookups. (Yes, I am a genealogist. I’m even a Family History Center staff member.) While I don’t have any coal miner ancestors (yet), my sister-in-law’s family comes from Pittsburgh, and one of her ancestors first became a lawyer, then a 49er, before coming back home and supporting his family as a “coal measurer,” a job description I don’t quite understand. Do you, with your recent research on the subject, know exactly what a coal measurer would do?
I would also love to know how many of the people in the book were historical figures. I attempted to look up Sam Auerbach, for instance, but couldn’t find any evidence that he really existed, as much as I loved him in the book. Emil Isgreen, on the other hand, is right there in the census. (Did you know that you can pull up a census list for everyone in the entire community on FamilySearch? I didn’t know until I tried it for Scofield, Carbon, Utah. Who knew that a 19th century Welsh family would name a kid Talisien?) Looking at the actual census pages must be even more fascinating. Alas, I have only one line that might go back to Wales that I know of so far.
Then I went to my bookshelf (your books take up one whole shelf in a pretty wide case) and picked up Borrowed Light and Enduring Light. Not crazy about most of what I’ve read in LDS fiction, I have been putting off reading them. My loss – I adored both of them. I have puffed off all three books on All About Romance’s message boards. Now I am off to read Marriage of Mercy, which has also been on my to-be-read mountain for awhile now.
I loved the picture of Boo, and your stories of his bad habits. (I too have a cat who hides – albeit under the bed – when people visit.) Aren’t Siamese mixes fun? I have had two, and when Streaky the Supercat goes to kitty heaven, I plan to do my best to find another one. They have so much character! Streaky, however, would probably revert in the presence of another cat, and wouldn’t cuddle with me anymore.
Any thoughts about further sequels starring Della or Julia? Angharad would
probably make a great heroine. I would read them!
Kari in California (one of your biggest fans)
Hi Carla, I have just finished reading your book, “My Loving Vigil Keeping” and I loved it! I not only loved the beautiful story but for me it was like reading my family history. My maiden name is Wycherly. My grandfather and grandmother Wycherly were married in Winter Quarters in September 1904. My grandmother, Annie Lloyd’s family came from Wales. My father, was born in Hiawatha, Carbon County, Utah and I was born in Price, Carbon County, Utah. My father’s oldest brother, Lenard Reese Wycherly was killed in the Sunnyside mine explosion of May 9, 1945. My grandfather Daniel Oscar Wycherly was a Mine Boss for one of the mines. I remember when I was 4 or 5 years old going to visit grandma and grandpa Wycherly in I think Hiawatha and driving under the Tiple. My family a and I were living in Sunnyside at the time. Another interesting point is that Annie Lloyd, grandma Wycherly, and her sisters and brothers were left orphans. The youngest child, David, I think, was taken in by the Parmley family. He was never legally adopted by them but did take their last name. This story will always be very special to me. Thank you so much for writing this beautiful story. I’ve read two other books of yours and have enjoyed them very much.
Sincerely,
Madelyn in Idaho Falls