Nell's Story: A Woman from Eagle River

by Nell Peters, Robert Peters

With its desperate acts and dire consequences, Nell Peters's tale of a woman's life in northern Wisconsin is a remarkable story, full of the sense and sound and flavor of a time and place rarely visited in books. Nell's tomboy childhood, her businesslike initiation into sex on the eve of her departure for the WACs in 1951, her resulting pregnancy and return home to a life sharply at odds with small-town conventions, her struggle to keep her twin sons, and her disastrous sexual liaisons with men and women alike are recounted in this funny, gritty, and wildly candid book.

172 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 1995

Reviews

[Kieren]

Well I absolutely loved this book. Some may not care for how it was written, but I just imagine that's how Nell spoke. What a rich, interesting life!

[Cindy Holdmann]

Just recently having moved up here, and having vacationed here nearly all my life, I was anxious to find out how life was back then. I was surprised to find out how much things have changed and how little some things have changed. It was a cold, hard life then as compared to the life I now life just off of Sundstein where Nell grew up. It was heart breaking and heart warming all at the same time. At time's Nell is speaking to her brother, who writes for her and at other times, it's as if you're there living her life. Her relationship with her father was a wonderful induction into this book and explains why she grew up the way she did.
You can almost smell the coffee brewing and taste the food they are eating. It is written very well. Sometimes the language is a little course, but it was that way back then. I now wish that I had purchased the hardcover version as it goes into more detail about her adult life. Nell, sounds like a very fascinating woman and, if she were alive today, I would love to meet her. I highly