Dearest Anna

"Before my grandmother, there was Anna." So begins the true story of a family secret, a trunkful of hidden letters, and a love story buried away for almost a century. In 1894 Roy and Anna graduated from high school and begin writing hundreds of love letters to each other until 1898, when Anna died, suddenly and tragically. Roy was devastated. Even after he married, he grieved every year on the anniversary of Anna's death. The letters lay hidden for decades, until his granddaughter brought them out of the shadows. Who was Anna - the woman Roy loved so deeply that he mourned her even after his 63-year marriage to someone else? This is Anna and Roy's story - a snapshot in time in the waning days of the Gilded Age; a love story for the ages. In Anna's words: "We will write as often as we must, for we are never going to be tired of each other, if we live a thousand years."

Sophus Lie (1842-1899) is one of Norways greatest scientific talents. His mathematical works have made him famous around the world no less than Niels Henrik Abel. The terms "Lie groups" and "Lie algebra" are part of the standard mathematical vocabulary. In his comprehensive biography the author Arild Stubhaug introduces us to both the person Sophus Lie and his time. We follow him through: childhood at the vicarage in Nordfjordeid; his youthful years in Moss; education in Christiania; travels in Europe; and learn about his contacts with the leading mathematicians of his time.

As a child, Anna Logan lives securely with her grandfather in Kentucky. He speaks lovingly of her mother, who died shortly after Anna was born, but refuses to talk about her father, telling her only that he never came back from the war. She longs for the day when he'll finally answer all her questions. But when she's nine years old, her grandfather dies, taking the secret of her father with him to the grave. Alone in the world, Anna must adjust to life at an orphanage. As a teenager, she travels to Colorado with a local family to help them at their boardinghouse. There, she's surrounded by the colorful characters who live and work with her--Jason, a handsome newspaper reporter; Claire, her secretive new friend; and Billy, a quirky old prospector. And she struggles to come to terms with the unanswered questions of her past--questions that seem to overshadow her life. Set in the historic mining town of Rosita, Colorado, Dearest Anna tells an inspiring story of a girl's search for her identity, a family, and faith in an uncertain world.