The Lighthouse Keeper's Mail Order Bride

In the year 1875, Eliza Whitley, a woman whose restless spirit had never fit the confines of Boston's drawing rooms and parlors, found herself staring out the rain-streaked window of her parents' home. Her days had been defined by polite society, unspoken rules, and the comforting, if stifling, routine of privilege. Yet beneath the silk and taffeta, her heart beat for something wilder, less predictable—a longing that no amount of charitable work or tea parties could ever satisfy. It was during one of those insufferably endless afternoons, her hands idly leafing through a well-thumbed copy of the Ladies' Home Companion, that Eliza discovered the advertisement that would change the course of her life. The announcement was printed in the smallest type, sandwiched between a recipe for syllabub and a cautionary tale about the dangers of traveling unescorted west of the Mississippi. "Wanted: A woman of stout heart and gentle humor, to share a home and provide companionship on the Washington Territory coast. Prospect for adventure and honest work assured. Small cottage, large skies. Inquire of R. G. Weatherby, c/o Cape Disappointment Lighthouse."