Goodreads asked Jennifer Crosswhite:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Jennifer Crosswhite The 1880s was a fascinating time in American history. The country was recovering from its greatest wounding, the Civil War. People were moving West to make new lives for themselves. Progress, in the form of trains, telegraphs, gas, and electricity were making life easier, and new inventions were just around the corner. Out West in particular, women were becoming more independent and taking charge of their own lives, including careers and schooling.

I chose to set my stories in Oregon because I visited there on a trip in high school and fell in love with its beauty. The very kernel of this story started as an AP English project that year. The characters never left me alone and over the years the story grew, morphed, and changed as my writing skills developed.

Reedsville is inspired by the real town of Molalla, Oregon, which was the end of the trail and the beginning of a new life for many pioneers of the time.

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