Ellen B. Alden Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke

Annotation

Irish immigrant Florence Burke has lived in Massachusetts for more than a decade but hes still a tenant farmer and his family lives in near-poverty. He came to America for a better life, but finds his adoptive country less than hospitable. Florence recognizes that owning land is the path to prosperity, but the bank won't grant him a loan and he's running out of options. An opportunity arises that could make his dreams come true, but it involves great personal risk to both himself and his family. He recalls the gamble he took when he fled the Potato Famine in Ireland, and wonders if he could make a gamble on his life one more time? Will his wife and children understand his decision to join the war?Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke is based on nineteen original letters from my great, great grandfather to his wife and children. It is a story of one Irish immigrant in a million struggling to make it in America at a time when the nation is divided.