You’ve got mail ... lots of it! Author Nancy Rue loves getting letters from her readers, but finding the time to answer them has always been a challenge. Dear Nancy was born from a desire to connect with readers in-depth by really answering their questions, particularly the ones she gets asked over and over, like, “How did you become a writer?” and “What’s your favorite Scripture verse?” for example. Readers want more than just tips on writing, though—they want to know about Sophie and Lily, about boys and friends, about growing up, and even more about Nancy herself. So here’s a peek into Nancy’s mailbox with answers on topics that are closest to tween girls’ hearts.

During this past January, I admitted my wife of fifty-five years, Nancy Austin, to a memory care facility as she increasingly needed special care with the diagnosis of dementia. Within six weeks, a lockdown occurred during which our family saw her only through a windowpane. Talking with her depended on the availability of staff cell phones, always unpredictable. The grandchildren, children, and friends tried to touch her, a scene repeated often, leading to painful and frustrating moments. I decided to write a series of essays about Nancy for our children and grandchildren, which they never knew, memories that reached out wrapped in love and respect for others during the ensuing weeks and months of the pandemic. Soon other relatives and friends wanting to read them finally led to their publication. The reader may find similar experience, if not the same kind of storylines, as the pandemic is teaching us how to touch our loved ones.

Nancy Shippen was born into a wealthy family at a fascinating point in American History, her journals provide a unique insight into the role of women in the social and political landscape.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Mistress Nancy Molesworth: A Tale of Adventure" by Joseph Hocking. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

My life has been (above any merits of my own) so blessed by Providence, that methinks its history should be begun with the ringing of bells, the singing of psalms, the sound of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music. For surely the contemplation of a happy course should, even towards its close, be accompanied by a heart full of cheerful piety and gratitude. And though, as often happens to us in the Lord's wisdom, ill fortune, disappointment, troubles of the flesh, and pain of disease may perhaps afflict me in these latter years of fleeting life, they ought not to lessen the glad song of praise for blessings formerly vouchsafed (and still dwelling in my memory) of love, of joy, and of happiness. Truly, the earth is a delightful place; a fair garden, which yields pleasant fruit; and, if it may be so said with becoming reverence, there are yet, outside the gates of Eden, places here and there which for beauty and delight, to those who thither win their way, are comparable with Paradise itself. In such a place it has been my happy lot to dwell.