He Fell in Love with His Wife ~ a book review

 

He Fell in Love with His Wife by Edward Payson Roe was a good read.

I had ordered this book from Thrift Books, and I think it was one I received as a free book.  This particular edition was written in a format that was a bit cumbersome when reading, as it was 8 x 11 size and very small print.

But the story was intriguing and worth the inconvenience.

There are two main characters that are the "standouts" in the book...

James Holcroft who is a farmer whose wife has passed.  He took her passing quite hard and allowed things to begin to fall down around his ears, so to speak. He went through at least three women he hired as housekeepers and none of them worked out.  His friend who was also in charge of the Poor House, told Jim about a woman who was there who was "not of the common sort" and thought if Jim was willing to give it a try that the woman would work well to suit Jim's need for a housekeeper.

That's when Alida enters Jim's life.  As Jim had been told by his friend, Alida had been wronged through no fault of her own and had nowhere to go but to the Poor House.  Jim agreed to at least talk with the woman to have an idea if he thought she'd be suitable as a housekeeper.  When he talked with her, he offered her the suggestion that she come to his house to work as his housekeeper, but Alida felt that people would talk with her being there by herself with the farmer.

Through a series of events, that you will find some amusing and some sad, Jim came up with the idea of marrying Alida, strictly as a "business marriage."

Alida did agree to the arrangement after some deliberation.

As one might guess from the title of the book,

Jim does fall in love with Alida, and she falls in love with Jim,

but so much transpires in between the time that they realize they've fallen in love with each other that you would definitely want to read for yourself.

Mainly because, it isn't until the very last two pages of the book that they admit to one another their love for each other.

I do need to mention that there are a couple of places where there is some cursing, but I believe that the book is worth the read because of the principles that are shown throughout the book, as well as the fact that Jim does come to know the Lord.

It's also worth mentioning here that Edward P. Roe was a Presbyterian minister who was born in the early 1830s.

Once he retired from the ministry he filled his time with writing.

I've not read any of his other books, but I wouldn't be opposed to giving them a try.