Maud Hart Lovelace--internationally famed author of the Betsy-Tacy
children's books--joined literary forces with her husband, Delos, to
produce Gentlemen from England, first published in 1937. It's the
fictionalized story of a real nineteenth-century English colony near
Fairmont, Minnesota, located not far from Maud Lovelace's hometown of
Mankato.
Tales of the immigrant British men and women, striving to recreate
English country estates on the Minnesota prairie, intrigued the
Lovelaces. The authors' thorough research became the basis for this
vivid novel of colorful fox hunts, festive balls, and English family
life set on the huge bean farms bought from a land speculator.
A new introduction by Borealis Books editor Sarah P. Rubinstein sketches
the history of the English colony and tells how the Lovelaces worked
together to bring it alive in this delightful book.