GENTRY — Author Marilyn Reicks, a resident of Gentry and a Gentry Library volunteer, will be available at the Gentry Public Library to sign copies of her new book, "Forever Faithful," from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
The time was moved to 4 to 6 p.m. to make it possible for those who work to still attend.
"Forever Faithful" is a romance novel with a true-to-the-times setting in a northeast Iowa farming community during the World War II years. Reicks grew up in northeast Iowa and was a school teacher there. She continued teaching when she moved to Arkansas and is a regular volunteer at the Gentry Library.
"'Forever Faithful' is a fictitious story based on my memories of World War II and life on the farm in Northeast Iowa, near Decorah," Reicks said. "My parents, like Julia's in the story, married in the '20s, lived through the Great Depression, and in the '40s faced another World War."
"Have you often wondered what life was like then?" Reicks asked. "One in four people were involved with agriculture. Farmers could supply most of their own food throughout the Depression. Agriculture was vitally important during the war to provide for the military," she said.
Questions addressed by the novel include: "How did World War I and II affect family life? What were the drastic changes in our culture after the wars? How does the war affect the romances of the young people?"
Reicks explains the times: "The white bridal gown signified purity, meaning the bride was a virgin. People did not live together without marriage. Sunday was the Lord's Day; no stores were open. Divorce was almost unheard of in the rural community."
Her book promises to not only hold the reader's interest but to take readers back and give them a deeper understanding of the values and lives of those who lived in rural farming communities during the first half of the 20th century.
More information about Reicks and her new book are available at http://marilynreicks.tateauthor.com.
General News on 08/12/2015