Introduction

This hypertext project is fictional, but it's based (loosely) in fact. At the beginning of this century there was a family in Malvern, Iowa, who lived in the house pictured. Two girls, Helen and Jessie, and two boys, William Perry and Frank Allen. All died as described in the biographies of their fictional counterparts, except for Grandpa Allen, who is still alive. My great-aunt Helen taught journalism at Baylor in Texas. My Aunt Jessie was a school nurse, and William Perry ("Pops") ran an air-conditioning business. I think. This family, the Wortmans, was my father's family. My name is Emily. The narrator of this piece, and the recipient of all the site's mail, is named Emily. Coincidence only. Please do not confuse the fictional me with the actual me.

The are three ways to explore this story. You could go directly to the "Maps" section and proceed through the house room by room. Please be sure to move your mouse slowly over the house and map for links. You could go to the "Progress of Time" section and finger through the artifacts and papers. Each document links to a separate page. Finally, you could go directly to the description of each of our main characters.

There are three voices in the text: there is the granddaughter and great-niece, Emily, returning to these rooms and walking you through them, touching things; there are the letters from Aunt Jessie, written when she was very old, about when she was very young; and there is the voice of Helen as imagined by Emily.

Have fun, and please remember: it's all fictional.

Emily Wortman-Wunder

Fort Collins, CO

April 2003

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