Selina Peake DeJong

Selina is the daughter of a gambler named Simeon Peake, and he greatly influences her life. She is alone a great deal of the time which makes her depend on books for companionship. This love of books is a life-long passion for Selina. Some of her plans and ideas are based on books she's read over the course of her life. Her view of the world is also influenced by books.

Selina is left alone when she's only 19 and she decides to take a position as a teacher in a rural Dutch community near Chicago. She is nervous but loves the fact that she's setting out on an adventure. She marries just a year later and is a widow just a few years after that. Selina is left to manage a farm and she takes control of that situation, working as hard as any man and...