The Corner Lot: A Young Girl's Quest - Paperback

by Neal de Geus (Author)

The Corner Lot begins by tracing the efforts of a young girl in the discovery of the origin of her Swedish surname; her red hair was considered by many to make a Swedish heritage unlikely. Not easily discouraged, she discovers the ancient legend of an indentured English peasant girl and her harrowing adventures high on the channel coast very near what is now Scotland.

Next, she enlists the help of her mother in writing down the family's story of three generations. How could two immigrants of the late nineteenth century, one a Mennonite from the doorstep of Russia and the other a Dutch Catholic have formed such an enduring bond of friendship and collaboration? Yet more puzzling were the events that led to a son of each becoming her grandfathers.

Events prior to and during The Great Depression inform a series of events which strain relationships and lead to great financial loss and despair. It is Rosalie, the mother of the young girl Rachel, who discovers the secret of her godfather. He quietly becomes the benefactor of the two families at great personal risk.

The drama unfolds on a homestead just east of Bakersfield, California and on the nearby foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east. It's a journey through another time into a common story of men and women who immigrated to America to achieve what they could only dream of in their native countries: freedom to own land and do with it as they pleased.