Young & Poor Boston Woman Faces the Wild Frontier — Susan Hart

In the gritty tenements of late nineteenth century Boston, Abigail Merriweather eked out a life of drudgery and hopelessness. At just eighteen years of age, the weight of poverty crushed her spirit daily as she toiled away for meager wages. Raised by an abusive father after her mother's untimely death, Abigail knew her only escape lay in the prospect of becoming a mail order bride to a stranger out West.With a fierce determination burning in her heart, she sought out Mr. Jameson, a grizzled marriage broker operating from a dingy office. He warned the fresh-faced girl that her youth would be a hard sell, but Abigail's resolve could not be shaken. Mr. Jameson begrudgingly agreed to take her case, regaling her with tales of the harsh realities that awaited any bride foolhardy enough to traverse the vast, unforgiving frontier.After weeks of tense waiting, a lead emerged--Jacob Wilkins, a young rancher recently widowed and in desperate need of a new wife to help build his humble homestead in the Montana Territory. Though his prospects were as meager as Abigail's, she leapt at the opportunity. An eager correspondence blossomed between the pair, forming the slender threads of affection amidst the brutal candor of their situations.