Mouse River

About the Book

When George Downing is hurt at the mill, the doctor by chance discovers he is suffering from the first stages of consumption. He immediately orders George and Sophia to move to the plains, where the clean, dry air would help ease the symptoms of the fatal disease. The doctor’s diagnosis is the beginning of a family saga filled with beauty, wonder, conflict and tragedy. Leaving her life of luxury behind in Wisconsin, Sophia sets out to be a good farm wife. Adding a little civilization to the frontier is her goal, but she finds it harder than she thought it would be. Her sod house rains dirt, she hauls water by hand from the creek, droughts kill any crops that survive the blistering sun, and winter brings a deadly onslaught of fury and wind. Winter’s chill and summer’s heat weren’t all that lurked on the plains. Evil men aiming to hurt her and her family also rode the trails, robbing and killing, creating their own special brand of misery. The Downing’s build their farm and become part of the community. Sophia is a fixture at church and George becomes a member of the town council and, eventually, Mouse River’s first postmaster. Evidently, the move to the plains was just the right thing, for George. Not so for Sophia. She gives birth to four children on the farm, each one taking a little bit out of her, each one extracting their toll. Added to the effects of the back-breaking work and poor diet, her decline becomes unstoppable. Even a man’s deadly campaign of vengeance against her isn’t enough to overshadow a mother’s ultimate loss. Sophia seeks her salvation in music, but in the end even that isn’t enough, and George’s cure becomes Sophia’s curse.

Mouse River is based on the life of the author’s great-grandmother. Letters from Adeline Goodman (Adie), stories from Sophia’s cousin Marion Brown’s son Nate, and three precious letters from Sophia herself form the foundation of the story. This book provides the only plausible explanation for the empty grave in Neenah’s Oak Hill Cemetery.

About the Author

Tom Schlueter is a journalist with a daily newspaper in the suburbs of Chicago, and the author of “Mouse River,” a novel published in 2001. Whenever possible, he can be found at the family cabin beside a beautiful lake in northern Wisconsin.