On Heaven in a Wildflower, by Cynthia Mines
By Tracy Million Simmons
This is Tracy Million Simmons, owner of Meadowlark Press in Emporia, Kansas, for High Plains Public Radio Reader’s Summer Reading List. As a regional press specializing in stories from the Midwest, I’d like to take this moment to introduce you to Heaven in a Wildflower, historical fiction set on the Kansas prairie of the early 20th century. Written by award-winning writer, Cynthia Mines, Heaven in a Wildflower is sure to become a Kansas classic.
The novel follows Kristin Thorsen, who as a young girl in 1914 is sent away by her aunt from the only place she has ever known as home. She struggles to put down roots on the Kansas prairie in a lonely parsonage in central Kansas where she must live with her widowed father, her mother’s nearby grave a constant reminder that she is alone in the world. Kristin retreats into her imagination where she finds solace in books.
Her story takes on Oz overtones as she is befriended by a neighbor widow who has filled the role of housekeeper for her father and a local seed merchant whose love of art makes his store a special place for Kristin. On a journey to find her voice and trust her heart, overcoming her insecurities and doubts, Kristin eventually gains employment as a Harvey Girl at Union Station in Kansas City in the early 1920s.
Mines—who has researched Kansas history through her roles of publisher-editor of Travel Kansas magazine for 32 years, as a reporter for the Wichita Business Journal, and as the author of the nonfiction book, For the Sake of Art: The Story of a Kansas Renaissance, which was named a Kansas Notable Book in 2016—turned to fiction to tell Kristin’s story because she believed a historical novel might reach more readers than a nonfiction book. “Kansas has such a rich and varied history,” Mines said. “I wanted as many people as possible to know what life was like on the prairie.” Readers will gain an understanding of the vast loneliness of the Kansas prairie of the early 20th century and an appreciation for the significant role immigrants played in the building of our state. Swedish folktales and stories of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair are woven threads throughout this story, drawing truths from Lindsborg, Kansas, the city that inspired this story’s setting.
After her husband leaves for World War II, Kristin confronts her past on the prairie, writing down memories to pass on to her daughter. Her recollections of a world war, devastating droughts, a global epidemic, persecution of immigrants, gender inequality, and religious intolerance are issues that will resonate with readers more than a century later.
I am Tracy Million Simmons for the High Plains Public Radio Readers Book Club’s Summer Reading List.
Tracy Million Simmons, Owner/Publisher of Meadowlark Press, enjoys reading and writing about the people and places of her home state of Kansas, both real and imagined. She founded Meadowlark Press in 2014 as a publisher of novels, memoirs, and children’s books with a focus on Midwest settings and authors. Meadowlark is the home of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction and, as Meadowlark Poetry Press, publishes poetry nationwide and awards the annual Birdy Poetry Prize. Learn more at meadowlarkbookstore.com.
