Windy Ridge
A vivid portrait of a young woman growing up in a rural Kentucky community in the early 1900s. Drawing from personal experience as the daughter of an evangelist farmer, Ethel Thomas Russell captures in keen detail the daily routines, social customs, and conversational styles of a bygone era, all woven into a captivating story with timeless themes of love, loss, faith, and family.
Written over 75 years ago, the illustrated manuscript was recently rediscovered, and is being published now to share and preserve this important work of cultural and historical significance.
Ethel Thomas Russell was the youngest of eight children, born to pioneer parents John Evan and Melissa Thomas in Casey County Kentucky in 1911. Her great-great-grandfather settled in that area, south of the Green River near what became the town of Liberty, after serving under George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
Ethel was tremendously curious and creative over her entire life, a true Renaissance woman. She was constantly reading, writing, drawing, playing all manner of musical instruments, singing, and quilting. Her first published work was in Grit magazine at age 9. She wrote a news column in the local paper for much of her life, and composed personal poetry. As a child of a farmer-evangelist, she was a hard worker, a fast learner, and a keen observer of life around her. She kept precise records of daily experiences until her death at age 87 in 1998.
Ethel was married to Herbert Russell, a lifelong love match until his death in 1989. She had two children (a girl and boy) and 4 grandchildren. This is her only novel, written in the early 1950s. It is set in a small area near her hometown, based on 30 years of her early life there, and written with honesty and love.
