Prelude, A Novel, & The 1854 Diary of Adeline Elizabeth Hoe

by Helen Davidson, edited by Richard Davidson and Helen Taylor Davidson

In the spring of 1854 seventeen-year-old Adeline Elizabeth Hoe began to keep a daily diary. Filled with six months of the details of a young girl's life, the diary offers a wonderful window into the mind of an educated young woman from a well-to-do family living in Lower Manhattan in the turbulent decade before the Civil War. Her meticulous record of the elegant music, dances and literature she and her sister enjoyed is juxtaposed with her matter-of-fact relation of epidemics and sudden deaths, conveying a vivid picture of mid-nineteenth-century life. Author Helen Davidson, a descendant of Adeline, transcribed the diary with her husband, Richard Davidson. Helen wrote the novel Prelude, while transcribing Adeline's diary, re-imagining the life of this spirited young girl.

About the Author

A lifelong music teacher, choral director, dramatist and writer, Helen Davidson is the custodian of many heirlooms in a family whose American roots stem from the early 1600s. These include her ancestor's diary, which was transcribed and annotated through many years of research, and which became the inspiration for the novel, Prelude. The Davidsons live in Plainfield, New Hampshire, in the home where Helen was raised.

Ordering Information

ISBN13: 978-1-931807-80-7 6x9 hardcover, $24.95

Visit the author's website: helentaylordavidson.com