Introduction

It is the beginning of a new century at Lake Manawa Resort in Iowa, but some things never change. When 22-year-old Emily Graham's meddlesome aunts and grandmother take it upon themselves to find her a husband among the resort guests, the spunky suffragist is determined to politely decline each and every suitor. She has neither the time nor the need for a man in her busy life.

Carter Stockton, a recent college graduate and pitcher for the Manawa Owls baseball team, intends to enjoy every minute of the summer at Lake Manawa, Iowa, before he is forced into the straitlaced business world of his father.

When Emily crashes into Carter at a roller skating rink, neither could guess what would come next. Will Carter strike out? Or will Emily cast her vote for a love that might cost her dreams?

The perfect summer novel, A Great Catch will enchant readers with its breezy setting and endearing characters.

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Excerpt

Lake Manawa, Iowa, 1901

Three blind mice.

Three little pigs.

Three days in the belly of a whale.

Emily Graham stifled a moan. Some of the worst things in

life came in threes, and she was facing her favorite meddlesome

trio right now.

“The right to vote won’t warm your bed at night, dear.”

Aunt Millie poured fresh lemonade from a crystal pitcher

into four glasses, then blotted her round face with a handkerchief.

Even though the table, complete with an heirloom

lace tablecloth, sat in the shade of the Grahams’ cabin at

Lake Manawa, the late May heat brought a sheen to her

aunt’s crinkled brow.

Emily pressed the glass of lemonade to her cheek and

watched the sailboats on the lake lazily glide across the rippling

surface. “As hot as it is, the last thing I want is a warm

bed.”

“Honestly, what are we going to do with you?” Aunt Ethel,

rail thin, stiffened in her chair, and Emily imagined her aunt

would launch into a tirade concerning Emily’s character flaws

at any minute.

Aunt Ethel turned toward her older silvery-haired sister,

Emily’s grandmother. “It’s your fault, Kate. You filled her

head with all those ridiculous notions of changing the world,

women voting, and all that other nonsense. Now look at her.

She’s twenty-three years old, and she’s still not married.”

“I’m twenty-two, Aunt Ethel.”

“But your birthday’s just around the corner.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “It’s six months away.”

“So sad. Almost a spinster.” Aunt Millie shook her head

and smoothed her apron. “If we don’t do something soon,

no man is going to want a woman that advanced in years.”

“I guess it’s up to us.” Aunt Ethel tsked and patted Emily’s

hand. “Even though you’re no great catch, don’t worry,

dear. With the three of us on the job, we’ll have a man on

your arm in no time.”

“Three?” Emily felt a millstone sink to the pit of her stomach.

She turned to her grandmother. “I thought you were on

my side.”

Grandma Kate smiled. “I am. That’s why I’m going to help.

If I leave it up to your aunts, they’ll have you married off to

some spineless simpleton you’d have henpecked in a matter

of days, or some bald, solid member of the community that

every other bright girl has already discarded.”

“Do I even want to know what these two have in mind?”

The corners of Grandma Kate’s crinkly mouth bowed.

“Probably not.”

“Trust us, dear. We have your best interests at heart.” Aunt

Millie held out a plate. “Prune cake?”

“No thank you.” Emily checked the watch hanging on the

chain around her neck. “I have to go now. I promised to meet

some friends to go roller-skating.”

“You’re not going out in that abysmal outfit.” Aunt Ethel’s

face pinched. “It’s hardly proper.”

Emily held out the sides of her sporting ensemble, complete

with a shorter-length, divided moss-green walking skirt. “I

can’t very well skate in a full skirt. I’d kill myself.”

“You probably will anyway,” Aunt Ethel said solemnly.

“Ethel!” Grandma Kate shot her a warning glance. “It’s not

Emily’s fault she struggles a bit in the art of gracefulness.”

“A bit?” Aunt Millie chuckled. “That’s like saying I’m a

bit old.”

“Aunties, Grandma, we’ll talk about all of this later.”

Aunt Ethel squeezed Emily’s forearm. “No need to thank

us, dear. It’s our pleasure to help.”

After buckling the metal roller skates to her boots, Emily

pulled the straps tight and dabbed her upper lip with a handkerchief.

Patrons of the roller-skating rink, the newest addition

to Lake Manawa’s Midway and ever-growing resort,

lined the bench beside her.

“I can’t believe you two talked me into this again.” Emily

set her feet on the paved brick sidewalk, shook the wrinkles

from her skirt, and smiled at her two dearest friends, Lilly

Hart and Marguerite Andrews.

“You’re the one who said we should challenge ourselves to

grow.” Lilly, formerly Marguerite’s personal maid and still her

best friend, grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her to her feet.

“I said we needed to challenge our minds, not break our

necks.” Emily wobbled, and Marguerite caught her arm.

“Careful.”

“You both realize that you are putting yourselves at great

risk. It’s common knowledge I could trip over a chalk line

drawn on the sidewalk.”

“You were a little shaky when we started last time, but you

caught on just fine.” Lilly kept a firm hold on Emily’s elbow.

“Besides, teaching you to skate is the best excuse Marguerite

and I have for getting a break from our children.”

Keeping a hand on the door frame, Emily rolled in behind

her friends. Her lips turned downward as the excitement

soured. “Did you have to ask your husbands for permission

to come today?”

“Tate takes a long afternoon nap, so Trip doesn’t mind.”

Marguerite paused to give the clerk her coin. “Did Ben give

you any trouble about coming today, Lilly?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle. Besides, Levi’s with my

mama.” She deposited her nickel on the counter. “And probably

being spoiled rotten.”

Emily fished a coin from her chatelaine purse attached to

the wide belt at her waist. “I can’t imagine having to ask a

man if I can go somewhere. How utterly degrading.”

Marguerite stepped onto the smooth wooden floor of the

rink. “That’s what I used to think.”

“And now she’s just a plain old married woman.” Lilly

laughed as she followed her onto the floor.

“And you’re not?” Marguerite countered. “Emily, it’s not

that I ask permission, really. Trip and I share our lives. It’s

more of a common courtesy.”

Emily eased out onto the rink, pausing to adjust to the

feel of the wheels on her feet. “But what if Trip told you no?

If he said he didn’t want you to go, would you be here?” She

wavered on the uneven floor and narrowly avoided the boy

in front of her. His brows knit in anger, and she shrugged

in apology. Why did skating and speaking at the same time

have to be so difficult?

“The right answer is probably ‘no,’ but I can’t honestly say

I’d obey him. I’m not sure what I’d do.” Marguerite smoothed

a crinkle in her skirt.

“I am.” Lilly spun backward with ease. “You’d be here

now and fight with him later.”

“That’s why I’m not sure marriage is for me. Obey? Even

the word irritates me.”

Lilly laughed. “You just need to find the right person—

like we have.” Emily started to lose her balance, and Lilly

caught her hands. “Relax. Don’t fight it. Think of the skates

as wheels on your feet.”

“Remember, I’m not graceful on my feet without the

skates.”

They giggled, and Marguerite linked her arm in Emily’s.

“You’re your own worst enemy. Smile. Act like you’re having

fun.”

“It would certainly be acting.” Emily adjusted her hat, set

askew by her last near fall. “I’m holding you two back. Why

don’t you two go skate together awhile and let me practice

on my own for a few minutes?”

“We couldn’t do that.” Lilly twirled in a circle.

“Please. It’s hard for me to talk and concentrate on the

task at hand. I need about ten minutes to get used to this.”

“Are you sure?” Marguerite worried her bottom lip between

her teeth.

Emily reached for the wall to steady herself. “Yes. Please,

I’ll do better on my own. I certainly couldn’t do worse.”

“Ten minutes,” Lilly said. “And no hugging the wall.”

Like birds set free from their cage, the two friends sped off.

Lilly skated with such ease she made it look as if she’d been

doing it all her life, and Marguerite looked angelic floating

around the rink with her blonde hair surrounding her head

like a halo. Emily felt a stab of jealousy but pushed it away.

It wasn’t their fault she’d been born without an ounce of

athletic prowess.

She let go of the wall and shoved off, determined to master

at least one lap around the rink. It might not be fair that fear

pulsed through her every time another skater whooshed by,

but that wouldn’t stop her. It never had before.

Despite her worries, her wobbly legs seemed to solidify

as she rolled down the length of the maple floor. The soft

thunk, thunk, thunk of her skates passing over the boards

caused her confidence to grow. She rounded the first corner

by pressing her hand to the wall and grinned. Perhaps she’d

get used to this yet.

Relax. Don’t think about the skates.

Maybe if she concentrated on something else, like the Council

Bluffs Equal Suffrage Club. With the recent failure of the

Iowa legislature to amend the state’s constitution, the women

were despondent, tired after losing a hard fight. As their local

president, she needed something to rally the troops—something

they could put their wholehearted efforts into. They couldn’t

quit before they’d won the right to vote. She wouldn’t let them.

Would a husband complicate all she hoped to accomplish?

Marguerite and Lilly had been able to participate in the fight,

but having young children affected the amount of time they

could commit to the cause. As a single woman, she was free

to give the effort her undivided attention.

She reached the end of the rink and bit her lip when she

crossed her right boot over her left, as she’d seen Lilly and

Marguerite do many times.

Suddenly her feet tangled. Arms spinning like the paddle

wheels of a steamboat, she teetered precariously to the right,

then the left. Strong hands tightened around her waist and

attempted to move her out of the way. Instead, she gave an

ungainly kick and fell hard against the person holding her.

Air whooshed from her lungs as they tumbled together onto

the floor, a heap of knotted limbs and skates.

_ view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. Lilly claims people do everything for the same reason—“To love and be loved.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
2. Emily says her grandmother has often told her, “It’s one thing to say you support something. It’s something else altogether to fight for it.” Apply this to our world today. Are there causes you support but aren’t actively fighting? What makes a person willing to champion a cause?
3. Sibling relationships affect us all. Martin found it hard to admit to himself that Emily was an adult. Nathan wanted Carter to follow in his footsteps. How did Emily and Carter’s sibling relationship affect them? What roll has birth order played in your life? Has your relationship changed with your siblings with time? If you have children, how did you discourage sibling rivalry?
4. In his sermon, Brother Fossen said, “If you don’t let the Lord make your paths straight, you’ll spend your life running in circles.” How does this fit with the first verse given in the book—Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths”? How did Emily demonstrate the running in circles concept? Do you ever feel like you are running in circles? Why do you think you allow that to happen?
5. Cisterns were large wells dug to collect rain water. If there was a crack, the water might remain for a little while, but then leak out. Why did this make a good symbol for Emily’s life? Are we, as a society, collecting rain in broken cisterns? Why or why not?
6. One of the themes of A Great Catch was significance. How did Emily’s quest for finding her place in the world affect her choices?
7. Grandma Kate gave Emily a lot of advice in A Great Catch. Which of her words of wisdom did you appreciate the most? Have you received any special words of wisdom from your own grandparents?
8. What qualities about Aunt Ethel and Aunt Millie did you enjoy most? Which woman would you want for an aunt? Do you have any eccentric relatives in your family? What did you think of way Emily handled them?
9. Women have enjoyed the right to vote for over 75 years now. What did you learn about or see differently about the suffrage fight while reading A Great Catch? Why was the right to vote so important for women? If you had lived in 1901, do you think you would have been a suffragist? Why or why not?
10. Emily definitely struggled with clumsiness. Do you believe this was because of her perception of herself or because of an actual problem with gracefulness? How did this “flaw” affect Emily? Have you struggled with any similar problems? How can you relate to her embarrassing moments?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Author Lorna Seilstad's web site

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