Tess of the Storm Country (Unabridged‪)‬

Published in 1909, this classic romance is set in Ithaca, New York, the author's life-long home. Living in a squatters shanty, shunned by the 'upstanding' folk of Ithaca, Tessibel Skinner is nonetheless shocked when her father, a fisherman, is accused of murder. 

Barefoot, beautiful, and innocent, Tess sets out to clear his name, enduring hardship and narrowly escaping the viscous cruelty of those who would harm her. Written in the dramatic, heightened style of the times, the book offers a gritty look at poverty and social mores in turn-of-the-20th-century America, but this note of realism is nicely balanced by the against-all-odds romance that blossoms between Tess and the Cornell University man of her dreams. 

Interview with the author's descendent at the end. 

This project was made possible in part by Thomas Hoebbel Photography and Video, The History Center in Tompkins County, WICB, Michael Barakiva of the Hangar Theatre, Circus Culture, Civic Ensemble, Bruce Beem-Miller, and the Wharton Studio Museum.