Children of a Doomed Voyage: the SS City of Benares PART 4: John Baker

By Terrie Todd

John Baker was only seven years old when he boarded the SS City of Benares with his 12-year-old brother, Bobby, and 88 other British children. Together with their adult escorts, they would sail to Canada to avoid the bombings occurring almost nightly back home. They set sail on the evening of Friday, September 13, 1940, after two days and one night waiting in the Liverpool harbor for conditions to be safe. 

The SS City of Benares

Aboard the former luxury liner, John quickly earned the nickname The Lost Boy. “The thing was,” he explained in later years, “I found the ship a very confusing place. It was huge as far as I was concerned. I wanted to explore, as kids do, and the number of times I got lost was unbelievable.”

Fortunately for John, his brother Bobby had been instructed by their parents to look out for him. Bobby did so with such dedication that when the ship was torpedoed on the night of September 17, he made a life-altering decision.

John recalls being the first in his cabin to hear the alarm bells and wake up. The children had been told that drills can happen at any time, and he assumed it was a drill. “I had my blankets wrapped round me Navy-style in a sort of cocoon, so I was trying to kick my bedding clear,” John remembered decades later. “I fought my way out of bed and ran around, waking everybody up. There were four of us in the cabin, and I woke my brother up and the boys in the other bunks.”

Alarm bells and chaos continued as the boys made their way out into the corridors and up onto the deck. Only then did John realize, despite knowing the correct procedures, that he’d forgotten his life jacket.

“So I said to Bobby, ‘I must go and get my life jacket,’ and off I went like a rocket. Fortunately, Bobby very sensibly grabbed hold of me and kept me close. He restrained me forcibly from going down there and getting lost again,” John said. “Instead, he gave me another life jacket. Now, whether he gave me his own life jacket in place of the one that I left behind, I do not know, and I shall never know. But he knew the drills, and it was drilled into us every time, to bring your life jacket and to put it on. So he put a life jacket on me.”

A WWII Kapok Life Vest

 

 

 

 

After a horrendous ordeal wherein the boys’ lifeboat mislaunched, plunging them into the sea, they had to climb rope ladders back onto the sinking ship. Their lifeboat was pulled up and loaded a second time. All of this was taking place during a vicious storm, with the crew and passengers scrambling for their lives, many screaming and dropping into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. In the pandemonium, John lost track of Bobby.

Some 20 hours later, the HMS Hurricane rescued those remaining alive. Once names were collected, little John knew for sure his brother was not among the survivors, though his tender heart was too young to process the truth. He returned home to his parents, the only survivor of the nine children from Southall, Middlesex, who’d been aboard. In a time when it was believed that not talking about trauma was the healthiest directive, only in later years, when the survivors held reunions, did John allow himself to think or speak about the tragedy.

“Bobby gave a great gift to me,” he said in 2005, “and I shall forever be grateful. Because of that life jacket, he has given me 65 years of life that he didn’t have. So I’m grateful.”

Source: Menzies, Janet. Children of the Doomed Voyage, John Wiley & Sons, 2005 

Even If I Perish releases November 5, 2025. It is Terrie’s novel based on the sinking of the SS City of Benares and on the heroism of escort Mary Cornish and the six boys she cared for in a lifeboat for eight days. Terrie is the award-winning author of ten historical and two split-time novels, most of which have won Word Awards through The Word Guild. Her 2023 release, April’s Promise, was a finalist in the ACFW Carol Awards. She lives with her husband, Jon, on the Canadian prairies. 

 

 

“If I perish, I perish.” A sermon based on Queen Esther’s famous words spurs music teacher Mary Cornish to action. She volunteers to escort a group of 15 girls from England to Canada as part of Britain’s World War II child evacuation program.

All is well aboard the SS City of Benares until September 17, 1940. With a storm brewing in the North Atlantic, a German U-boat releases its torpedo and breaches the ship’s hull. Do the Nazis know ninety children are on board?

In the scramble to save as many lives as possible, Mary lands in a crowded lifeboat as the only female among crew members, passengers, and six young boys. In the storm’s aftermath, two things soon become crystal clear: that Lifeboat 12 has become separated from all the others, and that Mary has been placed here for such a time as this—even if she perishes.

Follow Terrie here:

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NO ONE CAN EAT JUST ONE

By Mary Davis

 

Ah, the potato chip—salty goodness or aphrodisiac?

 

When were these irresistible treats invented?

 

As the story goes, they date back to the summer of 1853 in the restaurant of Moon’s Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York. The cook there, a man by the name of George Crum who was half Native and half African American, had a disagreeable customer. Railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt complained the French fries served to him were too thick and soggy, and didn’t have enough salt. Crum cut some thinner, cooked and salted them, and sent those out to the man. Still too thick.

 

Annoyed, Crum cut several potatoes as thin as he possibly could and fried them until they were brown and crisp, too crunchy to be eaten with a fork. He topped them off with an overload of salt to teach Vanderbilt a lesson. Well, the joke was on Crum. Vanderbilt loved them, and Saratoga Chips soon became a big hit, not only at the restaurant but in the entire area.

Crum and his sister Kate

However, this story, though entertaining, isn’t true. For one, Vanderbilt was touring in Europe that summer. Two, the Moons didn’t purchase the resort until 1854. And finally, Crum’s sister, Kate, claimed to have fried and invented the Saratoga Chips. To top it off, potato chips weren’t unknown in this area. A woman named Eliza, in Saratoga, had a reputation for her fried potatoes, as early as 1849.

 

So, who owns the claim to fame? George or Kate or Eliza? None of them.

An 1817 cookbook the Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, published in London, had a recipe for potato chips. Which means, the recipe was around before that. They were also in the 1822 edition. A British book about French cookery in 1825 had a similar recipe.

 

In the US, early recipes are in Mary Randolph’s Virginia House-wife (1824) and in Cook’s Own Book (1832) by N.K.M. Lee. Both of these cite Kitchiner.

All of these predate Crum from the story at the top of the article. He did, eventually, open his own restaurant in 1860, featuring Saratoga Chips.

 

For a long time, potato chips were restaurant-only offering because they were laborious to make, peeling and slicing all those potatoes by hand. Also, there was no way to keep them fresh beyond the exit.

 

Ohio entrepreneur William Tappenden created a way to keep them stocked in grocery stores. He shipped the potato chips by wagon in barrels. Then they would be weighed out at the store and sold that way. The problem came near the bottom of the barrel where the chips had become stale and broken into little pieces. Others copied his method.

 

The salty snack had a major breakthrough in 1926. California businesswoman Laura Scudder came up with the idea to fuse two pieces of wax paper together, which kept the potato chips from crumbling as well as fresh and crisp. Her packaging had a freshness date and boasted “the Noisiest Chips in the World.”

 

The following year, Chicago chef Leonard Japp started mass-producing the snack for Al Capone who thought they would sell well in his speak-easies. Japp also started cooking his chips in oil rather than lard.

 

The inventions of the mechanical potato peeler and the continuous fryer in the 1920s made processing large quantities of potato chips possible.

 

Also, in the 1920s, Herman Lay started selling potato chips and became so successful that he could mass-produce them.

 

And in the 1950s, we started having flavored chips.

 

In 1963, Lay’s marketing firm came up with the popular trademark slogan “Betcha can’t eat just one.” Bert Lahr, Wizard of Oz’s cowardly lion, featured in a series of commercials, which helped make them even more popular.

As a side note, I found this interesting. In colonial times, New Englanders relegated potatoes to pig food. They believed eating these tubers would shorten a person’s life—not because of the things we do to them today—but because they were believed to have an aphrodisiac, which could induce conduct that would shorten one’s life. Hmm, what conduct might that be?

 

I, for one, am glad this isn’t true. Even if it was, I would live dangerously, because I love potatoes, anyway you want to cook them.

Author Photo

THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT (Book 2 in the Quilting Circle series )

Can a patient love win her heart?
   As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. While making a quilt for her own hope chest, Isabelle’s half-sister becomes pregnant out of wedlock and Isabelle--always the unfavored daughter--becomes the family sacrifice to save face. Despite gaining the attention of a handsome rancher, her parents are pressuring her to marry a man of their choosing to rescue her sister’s reputation. A third suitor waits silently in the wings, hoping for his own chance at love. Isabelle ends up with three marriage proposals, but this only further confuses her decision.
   A handsome rancher, a stranger, and an unseen suitor are all waiting for an answer. Isabelle loves her sister, but will she really allow herself to be manipulated into a marriage without love? Will Isabelle capitulate and marry the man her parents wish her to, or will she rebel and marry the man they don’t approve of? Or will the man leaving her secret love poems sweep her off her feet?

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Rocky Mountains with her Carolina dog, Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

Sources

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things by Charles Panati, p. 388

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_chips

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/curious-history-potato-chip-180979232/

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-potato-chips-1991777

https://daily.jstor.org/story-invention-potato-chip-myth/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/potato-chip

 

 

 

 

 

Typhus: The Killer and the Cure 1

By Sherri Boomershine 

In my book, A Song for Her Enemies, Dutch Resistance workers, Dr. Daniel Feldman and his girlfriend, Tamar, sneak out of the ghetto to treat Typhus victims who are hiding in abandoned houses throughout the countryside. Typhus, an often-fatal bacterial disease that is spread by body lice, swept through Europe during the second world war, but it still exists.

• There are three types of Typhus: Murine typhus. Murine (or endemic) typhus exists in many areas of the world, including the U.S. and is spread by fleas. It tends to be milder than epidemic or scrub typhus.
• Epidemic typhus is most common in parts of Africa, Central America and South America. Body lice spread epidemic typhus. There are some cases of epidemic typhus in the U.S., usually after exposure to infected flying squirrels.
• Scrub typhus. Scrub typhus exists in rural areas of Southeast and East Asia, the Pacific Islands, Russia and Australia. Chiggers (young mites) spread scrub typhus. 

 

 Some of the symptoms of Typhus are fever, body aches, headaches, cough, and a rash, which starts on the chest and spreads to the rest of the body, except for the hands and soles of the feet. Notable people who died of Typhus are writer, Charlotte Brontë (1855); Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush (1825) ; and Emperor Alexander I of Russia (1813).

During World War II, Nazi propaganda portrayed Jews as major spreaders of the disease as a way of garnering public support for imprisoning them in ghettos. In November 1940, the Nazis walled more than 400,000 Jewish people inside a 3.4-square-kilometre ghetto in Warsaw, Poland. The overcrowded conditions, lack of sewage maintenance, and inadequate food and hospital resources meant that typhus rapidly infected about 100,000 people and caused 25,000 deaths.

 

However, Jewish people confined inside a Nazi ghetto during the second world war were able to curb a massive typhus outbreak by introducing similar infection control measures. By October 1941, just before the following winter, new typhus infections suddenly ground to a halt. This was unexpected, because typhus normally accelerated at the start of winter, and ghettos in other places like Ukraine were still being ravaged by the disease. “Many thought it was a miracle,” said Lewi Stone at RMIT University in Australia.

To find out how the Warsaw ghetto stamped out typhus, Stone and his colleagues examined historical documents from libraries around the world, including those kept by doctors who lived in the Warsaw ghetto. They discovered that doctors imprisoned there—including eminent microbiologist and Nobel prize nominee Ludwik Hirszfeld who helped discover different blood types—led community efforts to stop the disease from spreading. 

Hundreds of lectures were held in ghettos—wherever people were forced to gather—to educate the public about the importance of personal hygiene, social distancing, and self-isolating when sick. A secret university was also set up to train medical students in infection control, and community leaders helped to organize elaborate sanitation programs and soup kitchens. Mathematical modelling by Stone and his colleagues suggests that these measures prevented more than 100,000 typhus infections in the ghetto and tens of thousands of deaths.

 

Tragically, almost all the ghetto residents were later sent to die in extermination camps, which the Nazis tried to justify as a means to prevent future typhus outbreaks. Most notable victims were Ann Frank and her older sister, Margot at Bergen-Belson. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2249578  

Sherri Boomershine is a woman of faith who loves all things foreign whether it’s food, culture, or language. A former French teacher and flight attendant, her passion is traveling to the settings of her books, sampling the food, and visiting the sites. She visited a Netherlands concentration camp for A Song for Her Enemies, and Paris art museums for What Hides beyond the Walls. Sherri lives with her husband Mike, her high school sweetheart, whom she married fifty-five years later. As an author and editor, she hopes her books will entertain and challenge readers to live large and connect with their Savior. Join, chat, and share with her on social media. Newsletter Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

If the Nazis stole your house, wouldn’t you be justified in stealing it back?

Tamar Kaplan is a budding soprano with the Harlaam Opera company. Her future looks bright, despite the presence of the German soldiers guarding Haarlem. But when Nazi soldiers close down the opera company, families start disappearing in the middle of the night, and Jews are stripped of their freedoms, Tamar realizes her brother Seth was right about her naiveté. She joins the resistance, her blond hair and light features making it easy for her come and go under the watchful eyes of the German guards. Tamar becomes Dr. Daniel Feldman’s assistant, as they visit families hiding out in forests and hovels, tending to their health needs. But when she returns home to find her parents gone and the family store looted, she and Daniel must go into hiding.  As they cling to the walls of an alley, Tamar recognizes a familiar face—that of Neelie Visser, the neighbor, who beckons to them to follow her. Can she trust this Gentile woman who talks about God as if he’s standing next to her? https://bit.ly/40Yucjv  

Poor vs. Wealthy: Dining in Ancient Rome (part 2 0f 2) by Liisa Eyerly

Last month, I dove into the street food culture of ancient Rome, where the scent of fish stews and sizzling vegetables drifted through narrow alleyways. In a city where most residents lived in cramped insulae—apartment buildings where cooking fires were a deadly hazard—home kitchens were often banned. Instead of stirring a pot at home, Romans flocked to their neighborhood thermopolia—bustling takeout counters lined with steaming clay jars—or to lively tabernae, where mugs of wine, dice games, and gossip flowed late into the night.

These humble establishments kept the city fed and fueled, dishing up far more than survival fare: they offered flavors, fellowship, and a taste of the empire’s diversity in every bite.

What Was on the Menu for the Poor

Specialties—Thermopolia had large clay jars called dolia set into counters, kept warm over embers, ready to ladle out hearty fare: see menu.

• Taberna/tavern Favorites—Taberna catered to travelers and locals alike with portable foods:
• Bread: Flatbreads or round loaves—panis—sometimes topped with cheese, garlic, or herbs—think of it as ancient proto-pizza.
• Olives, Cheese, and Nuts: served alongside bread.
• Cured Meats: Ham, sausages, or salted cuts for those on the go.
• Stuffed Pastries: Filled with honey, dates, or minced meat for a sweet or savory treat.

For most Romans, eating out wasn’t a luxury—it was a daily necessity.

Dining Like the Wealthy
While the working class dined on the go, the wealthy elite lived a completely different culinary life. Their homes featured fully equipped kitchens with ovens and fireplaces for roasting and boiling, as well as servants or enslaved cooks to plan, purchase, and prepare elaborate meals. Dinner parties usually included reclining on dining couches.

Luxury households included:
Imported Ice from mountaintops to chill wine and delicacies.

Maintained gardens for fresh herbs, vegetables, and flowers.

Owned farms, orchards, and vineyards, supplying their homes with meat, poultry, olives, nuts, fruit, and wine.

Stocked preserved goods: pickled vegetables, cured meats, and rare spices imported from across the empire.

For the elite, a meal was a feast, a social event, and a statement of wealth and power.

What You Wouldn’t Find on Any Table—Pasta
Despite Rome’s influence on Mediterranean cuisine, pasta as we know it didn’t exist:

Durum wheat was known, but dried pasta dishes didn’t appear until the Middle Ages, influenced by Arab cuisine. The closest Roman creation was lagana, thin sheets of dough layered with fillings—an ancestor of lasagna, but without tomato sauce or mozzarella.

Whether dining at a crowded thermopolia counter or reclining at a lavish banquet, Romans—rich or poor—shared one thing in common: a love of flavorful, well-prepared food. Their meals tell a story not only of class divides, but also of ingenuity, trade, and the rhythms of urban life two thousand years ago.

Fortunes of Death

In the bustling streets of ancient Ephesus, fortunes can change in an instant. When one of the city’s wealthiest citizens is found crushed beneath his own triumphant memorial, the powerful elite demand justice—but at what cost? Enigmatic investigator Sabina faces her most perilous case yet. As secrets unravel and enemies close in, she must navigate political intrigue, dark sorcery, and forbidden love to uncover the truth. In a city where everyone has something to hide, who can be trusted? And how far will Sabina go to solve a mystery that could cost her everything?

Liisa’s books have been called a cross between Agatha Christie and Francine Rivers. Her mystery novel, Obedient Unto Death, won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for a debut novel and first place in the Spiritual Fiction category. The sequel, Fortunes of Death, continues the Secrets of Ephesus series, weaving fascinating Christian twists into the historical mystery genre of the first-century Roman Empire. Liisa’s travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy have enriched her stories with vivid depictions of New Testament culture, history, and people.

Liisa’s journey into writing proves it’s never too late to follow your dreams and share your passion with the world.

Purchase her books at:

Crossriver Media https://www.crossrivermedia.com/product/fortunes-of-death/

Amazon book page https://amzn.to/3Di2gyQ

Visit Liisa at:

Her website www.LiisaEyerly.com

Author Facebook page at Facebook

Forgotten Ways of the Wild West

 

Forgotten Ways of the Wild West: Things We Don’t Do Anymore

By Janalyn Voigt, author of the Montana Gold series

As a historical fiction author with a deep love for the Old West, I find those intrepid individuals who carved out homes in the wilderness fascinating. While writing the Montana Gold series, I researched everything from nineteenth-century fashion to the mechanics of loading a Henry rifle. But what interested me most were the common practices they engaged in that we rarely think about today or just don’t do anymore.

Read on and appreciate how far we've come since Wild West days—or maybe you’ll wish you could return to a simpler time.

1. Tying Up Horses at Hitching Posts

In modern life, we tap our key fob to lock the car and walk away. In the 1800s, you didn't drive a vehicle—you rode one with a mind of its own. Hitching posts were essential outside churches, general stores, and saloons. These sturdy wooden rails or metal rings placed near buildings allowed riders to secure their horses with a length of rope or reins.

Many towns even had watering troughs nearby so horses could drink while their owners conducted business. Imagine strolling into a dry goods store, the sun blazing overhead, and hearing the gentle stomp and snort of your horse waiting patiently outside. That sound has a place in my heart—and in many scenes of the Montana Gold series.

2. Saturday Night Baths—in a Tin Tub

These days, a warm bath is a simple matter of turning on a faucet. Not so in the Wild West. Back then, cleanliness required water to be hauled from a well, creek, lake, or river—and heated over a fire or on a wood stove. It's easy to see why bathing was a luxury often reserved for Saturday nights. Those fortunate to live in a town that held Sunday services liked to scrub up beforehand. Christian households honored Sunday as a day of rest regardless, with Bible reading and prayer. Visiters might stop by on Sunday, which made personal cleanliness desirable.

Families shared the same bathwater, starting with the eldest and working down in age. The practice gives new meaning to the old phrase, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

In Cheyenne Sunrise, one of the novels in the Montana Gold series, my characters face this very challenge, and it becomes both a humorous and tender moment—one of many that show how hardship could bring people closer.

3. Brushing Teeth with Chalk and Charcoal

Woman brushing in 1899;
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Toothpaste in a tube wasn’t available until the late 1800s, but western settlers cleaned their teeth with baking soda, salt, powdered chalk, or even finely ground charcoal. They used homemade or imported toothbrushes—often with hog bristles and wooden handles. 

If you had a toothache, you might take whiskey for the pain and visit the local blacksmith or barber, who often doubled as a dentist. Ouch.

4. Lighting with Oil Lamps and Candles

Electricity hadn’t yet reached most western towns. Even by the late 1800s, light after dark came from kerosene lamps, whale oil lanterns, or candles. These sources required constant attention—trimming wicks, clearing soot from glass chimneys, and refilling oil. They also brought a constant threat of fire, which is why many folks kept buckets of sand or water on hand.

5. Sending Letters... and Waiting Weeks for a Reply

Advertisement for Pony Express Riders

In the era before email or even reliable phone service, letters brought distant loved ones closer. Sent by stagecoach or train, a letter could take weeks—or months—to arrive. This delay made every word precious. I often think that slowness forced a deeper kind of communication. People wrote their letters with more intention, knowing they might not hear back for some time.

Letters were more than ink on paper; they were vessels of the soul. In Stagecoach to Liberty, another novel in the Montana Gold series, my heroine carries a letter close to her heart—one that holds secrets, hopes, and the power to change everything.

6. Making Do

Folks in the Wild West couldn’t run to Walmart or order from Amazon Prime. If their clothes ripped, they mended them. If their boots wore out, they patched them—or made a trade. Children played with rag dolls, whittled toys, or made do with sticks and a little imagination. And they were the richer for it.

Why These Old Ways Still Matter

In this fast-paced world, we can slow down and savor the quiet pace of yesteryear. Remembering these forgotten practices of the Wild West connects us with the perseverance, simplicity, and faith that still resonates today.

That’s what I aim to capture in my writing—a sense of stepping into the past, not just to learn history, but to rediscover values that never go out of style: love, courage, forgiveness, and the faith to keep going.

So, the next time you flip a light switch, run a hot bath, or brush your teeth with minty freshness, pause a moment to appreciate those who came before us and the lifestyle they led.

Fall in Love with the Wild West

If you're new to the Montana Gold series, it's the perfect time to saddle up and ride into the pages of history. These bestselling Christian historical romance novels offer heartwarming stories of faith, love, and courage.

Learn more about the series here → http://janalynvoigt.com/bookstore

About Janalyn Voigt

Hi, I'm Janalyn, an avid reader and serial daydreamer. I fell in love with literature at an early age when my father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When I grew older, I put herself to sleep with tales "written" in my head. Today I'm a storyteller writing in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all my novels. If that sounds good to you, let's keep in touch.

Learn more about me and the books I write at the Janalyn Voigt website.

A Castle Rising from Ruins

Boldt Castle is one of the most romantic and famous landmarks in New York State. Located on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands, the castle was once an extravagant and heartfelt gesture of love from hotel magnate George C. Boldt to his wife Louise. When tragedy turned that dream into a haunting ruin, it sat empty and in decay for decades until a remarkable restoration brought it back to life. The Boldt Castle renovation is more than just a story of architecture—it’s a rebirth of history, passion, and purpose.

When Louise Boldt died unexpectedly in 1904, George Boldt was devastated, and construction on the castle immediately ceased. Workers were told to leave the island, and George never returned. The castle, exposed to the harsh Northern New York winters, vandals, and the slow decay of time, was left to the elements for more than seven decades.

Windows shattered, floors rotted, mold crept in, and ivy climbed over what was meant to be a castle of love. For decades, it stood as a haunting reminder of what might have been—a romantic corpse that captured imaginations but seemed destined to crumble.

In 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority (TIBA) acquired Heart Island and the unfinished castle for just one dollar on the condition that all proceeds from admission and tourism had to go directly back into restoring and preserving the property.

Now, the decades-long labor of love is not unlike George Boldt’s original vision. The restoration of Boldt Castle has been one of New York’s most ambitious historic preservation projects to date. The TIBA and hundreds of craftsmen, historians, and artisans have carefully worked to preserve the castle’s original design, all the while making it accessible and safe for visitors.

What makes the Boldt Castle renovation so special is that it’s meant to both preserve history and continue a love story. The entire island a tribute to the vision George Boldt had for his wife Louise—a vision that, though interrupted, has finally been honored.

The restoration continues to this day, so every year I visit the castle and Heart Island to experience its new and exciting developments. As new rooms are opened and old ones are improved, the goal is not to complete the castle in the traditional sense, but to tell its story—to let visitors walk through love, loss, and legacy.

Today, Boldt Castle welcomes nearly a quarter million visitors annually. Couples wed. Family frolic, history lovers learn. And romantics come to Heart Island to not only admire a castle, but to feel the love through a story that never truly ended. Boldt Castle is a living monument—a place where craftsmanship, dedication, and memory meet on the shores of the St. Lawrence River.

ABOUT MADISON’S MISSION:

Step into the captivating world of Boldt Castle in 1903, where dreams are forged in the fires of adversity and love. Madison Murray, maid to Louise Boldt, harbors a singular mission—to care for her ailing mistress while hiding her own painful past. She meets Emmett O’Connor, but just as their relationship grows, tragedy shatters their world, and Madison is ensnared in a dangerous coverup. When Mrs. Boldt passes away, Madison is left reeling, can she move forward? Will Emmett forge a future alongside the woman who has captured his heart?

ABOUT SUSAN:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than thirty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has fourteen in her fiction line. Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan lives in Colorado Springs and enjoys traveling the world. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction for more.