Kelly O'Connor McNees's In Need of a Good Wife is a fictional look at the 19th-century phenomenon of mail-order brides in frontier America. It starts with Clara Bixby, abandoned by her husband, out of a job and stuck in a boarding house full of unpleasant memories. Then she hears about Destination, Neb., a town with no women, and decides it's a perfect place to start over. She's not looking for romance, but she's willing to act as a marriage broker and shepherd a group of mail-order brides to Destination.
The mayor eagerly accepts her offer, and Clara and her group of brides set out on the long trip. Among the women is Elsa, an immigrant and devout Christian who has spent her life working backbreaking hours in a laundry and longs for an opportunity to have her own space and cook the German recipes of her childhood. Rowena was a leading figure in New York society until her husband was killed in the Civil War; now she is penniless. Filled with anger at her father's mental illness and her husband's death, Rowena sees Nebraska as her only chance to escape.
McNees (The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott) shifts perspective between these three women (as well as some of Destination's men). Her characters aren't necessarily likable, but they are realistic, and the dilemmas that Rowena, Elsa and Clara face are compelling. Destination may not be the end of the line for this trio, but they will discover surprising things about themselves and each other in their journey to happiness. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm