June Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Testing

Time Setting: 1895

Genre: Historical Fiction

Minimum Word Goal: 90,000

Timespan: May-July

Locations: Elk City & Ketchum, Idaho

Main Characters: Gabriel Ræder, Ivy Oldford

Background Information:

Gabriel was born the second son and fourth child of eight children to a well-to-do couple in Denmark. Due to his parents' abundance of funds he was quite well educated and developed passions for learning and horsemanship.

Being of a high social standing, his parents desired for him to marry one of a large number of rich, eligible bachelorettes for the sake of prestige, not love.

Gabriel, however, found none of them appealing, as he wanted to marry a woman he loved, not just one who had the connections his parents wanted.

Infuriated at his refusal of all their choices, his parents disowned him and caused all of Danish high society to shun him so badly that he was forced to flee Denmark. He came to America with two trunks of belongings and a hundred thousand Danish kronor — all he owned.

Slowly, over the past nine years, Gabriel has been working his way across America, trying to find a place to call home and a woman to love, which has brought him to Elk City.

Being as he's run out of kronor, and sold everything he was willing to part with, Gabriel is now required to work for his money, thus he is currently working in the mining business so as to gain enough money to continue on his journey.

Ivy was born the second daughter and third child of five children to a farming family in Virginia. Her family set out west when she was six and arrived in Ketchum when she was nine.

In Ketchum her father was quickly encouraged into sheep farming and has since made it so profitable for himself that he even employs his own shepherds.

One of these shepherds, Thomas Bramwell, has taken a fancy to Ivy, and she to him. Recently the pair have become and gaged and are planning on being wed come autumn.

Due to the upcoming nuptials, Thomas and Ivy agreed it would be wise for her to meet her future in-laws beforehand, and it turns out the Bramwell's barn collapsed due to the snow load over winter, so Thomas has gotten leave to help build a new barn and is taking Ivy along with him to Elk City to meet his parents while the project is worked on.

Pronunciation:

Ræder: raider

Next post will be June 6.