Esther S Town

Esther's Town could be "Any Town, U.S.A.," for the equals of its cast of characters can be found in any small town. And here, as usual, was the town newspaper editor, the observing eye of all the foibles and peccadillos that form any town's history. Remembering all the years with love and humor, editor Deemer Lee chronicled the forty-four years he gathered and wrote news—forty-one of them as editor and publisher of his town's newspaper. He dug into old records, recalled old times, and talked with old-timers. He illuminated the transition of a town, from Estherville’s pioneer settlement to the busy, active town it is today. The excitement and fun begin with a story of bootleggers, Chautauqua meetings, and an accomplished arsonist—who achieves in less than two months the impressive score of burning seven barns and one feed store, with an unsuccessful attempt on the Methodist church. Scandinavians move in, build crude shelters for the first winter, and add their special characteristics to the town. The Irish arrive and stamp their mark on the whole territory. The circus comes to town and entrances everyone with its ancient pageantry. The railroads come through and add a rowdy element to the population. The Depression begins and farms see 11-cent corn, 108-degree heat, and a twister. All these events, plus adventures with a massive meteorite and haunting river tragedies, create the drama and flow of small-town life, story by story, in a fascinating revelation of Americana.

Merriam Press Historical Fiction. Esther's Odyssey is a vivid historical novel of a beautiful, gutsy, and intelligent young Jewish woman under the shadow of Nazism in Europe of the late 1930s. Whom she meets (a whole series of unique characters, including men and women of different classes and backgrounds), and how she navigates through a great variety of trials and tribulations, but also fascinating adventures adds up to a book which will interest readers all the way. It immerses one via superb background detail and sprightly dialogue in an entire era. From the opening pages, as the plot twists and turns, and right through to the end, surprises multiply, and simply put, this is a book which cannot be put down.

A study of the impact of crime on a rural town profiles the case of Esther Steele, who was killed after returning home from her local parish one evening, becoming the first murder victim in the long history of the town of Granite.

 By the eve of the 20th century, Middle Georgia was a rural region transitioning from the aftermath of the Reconstruction Era into the modern age. This collection of new essays describes the lives of the common people of the day. A grisly mass murder underscored issues of race, class and poverty. African Americans struggled for self-betterment against the rise of Jim Crow. Women striving to overcome gender barriers found a hero in a pioneering female pilot. The government worked to protect communities from the influenza pandemic of 1918. Fighting boll weevils and declining cotton prices, farmers diversified crops and developed a national pimento pepper industry.