Valentine's Day is for the Romanticists

 Isn’t it Romantic? Well, isn’t it? With Valentine’s Day right around the corner we may all have Romance on our minds. Flowers, chocolates, and cards may be expressions of romantic notions nowadays, but what about in years gone by? The Romantic movement took hold in the late eighteenth century and encompassed all sorts of cultural touchstones. Art, literature, philosophy, politics, science, everything was being reexamined or restructured through this new lens. In some ways it was a look back at our human past through sentimental eyes. It was a harkening back to a time when things seemed better, but it also demanded something new. The industrial revolution had driven growth for so many cities, but its inhabitants were not all equally reaping those rewards. The Romantic movement in literature tended to focus on pastoral scenes that reconfigures Medieval Romance and held up nature as the ultimate ruler of rhyme and reason. Too much progress too quickly was seen as dangerous, and the living conditions of those straining under the weight of industrialization was proof of that. And so it spawned a form of literary escapism that looked away from the dark and dank cities that were grinding its lower class citizens underfoot in the name of progress. 

You may be wondering, who are these Romanticists and are their works still relevant? Some may view the Romanticists’ style as outdated and melodramatic, but they were great storytellers who captured the zeitgeist. Sweeping revenge epics, pining away for lost lovers, brutal and tragic ends to characters both good and bad. All you have to do is think of the windswept moors of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights or the unending search for revenge in Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo or even the questioning of what it means to be human in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Each of these authors, and their contemporaries, created stories that were referencing the past while looking toward the future. Their literary output has inspired countless other stories, movies, and television shows that reinterpret the past for contemporary audiences. While these stories may not be the first thing you think of when you’re browsing the shelves this Valentine’s Day, it can still be fun to return to them when you’re feeling a bit Romantic.

Abrams, M. H. The Correspondent Breeze: Essays on English Romanticism. W.W. Norton & Company,

1984.

Barzun, Jacques. Classic, Romantic, and Modern. The University of Chicago Press, 1975.

Contemporary Retellings, Adaptations, and Read-A-Likes for Wuthering Heights

It's wuthering weather! March roars in like a lion, and out like a lamb - what more perfect time to sit inside, listen to the wind bluster, and warm yourself up with a passionate (but not too spicy) romance? The weather harkens to the tempestuous, passionate, obsessive tale of Wuthering Heights, recently adapted to a feature film starring Margot Robbie as the fickle Catherine Earnshaw, and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, the not-good-enough foundling who returns to win her love after he has made something of himself. The original novel includes the death of Catherine's father (and Heathcliff's foster father), an older brother who doesn't like Heathcliff, servants who help and hinder the relationship, and the atmospheric moodiness of the Yorkshire moors. Read on for a list of fiction with romantic elements featuring intense, destructive, obsessive, and/or star-crossed relationships; novels that  utilize literary elements, are heavily character-driven, and are influenced by setting or weather.

Abide With Me by Sabin Willett 🌶️
A juvenile delinquent leaves on a five-year tour of Afghanistan, and returns home a broken hero hoping to reunite with the heiress he had an intense ten-week tumultuous adolescent affair with--only to discover she is engaged to a wealthy attorney, and her father's finances are in ruins after his suicide. Determined to win back Emma and restore her family home, The Heights, Roy sets out to make something of himself and earn Emma's love and the town's respect. Set in small-town Hoosier's Bridge, Vermont, the setting plays into the narrative. As in other reframings of Wuthering Heights, all obsessive love ends tragically.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo 🌶️🌶️
When Katarina Shaw sees Sheila Lin win an Olympic gold medal in ice dancing with her partner, she immediately asks her father for skating lessons and begins training. When she befriends a local foster boy who has learned to skate through a hockey program for underprivileged youth, it doesn't take much convincing to get Heath to begin learning routines with her. Their undeniable chemistry, skill, and talent earn them a spot in Sheila Lin's ice skating academy, alongside her twin children, who are ice dance partners and being groomed for an Olympic bid as well. The narrative oscillates between Kat's point of view and interviews from a variety of sources, for a documentary about what went wrong between Kat and Heath that ended their partnership. Former competitors, coaches, journalists, siblings, friends, and more chime in as the dramatic story moves back and forth in time, covering nearly two decades of competition, training, injury, scandal, and setbacks against an obsessive and possessive relationship modeled after Katherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff's in Wuthering Heights. 

Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman 🌶️🌶️
March Murray and her teenage daughter Gwen travel to their Massachusetts roots for the funeral of the family's housekeeper who raised March; the return reignites March's passion for bad boy Hollis, the orphan her father took in--the one she spurned to marry a rich neighbor, whom she has left behind in California. March abandons all sanity and obligation in pursuit of obsessive love for a bitter man who can neither forgive nor forget her--but does he love her? Through a contemporary lens, Hoffman explores the themes of Wuthering Heights (obsession, violence, abusive relationships) alongside motherhood and middle age, passion and security, chance and destiny with her distinctive character development, almost-supernatural elements, and atmospheric, allegorical writing. New England weather, no less predictable than that of the Scottish moors, plays its own role in a narrative that moves back and forth in time.

How to Grieve Like a Victorian by Amy Carol Reeves  🌶️🌶️
When recently widowed professor of Victorian literature loses it at an underperforming student who happens to be the son of the dean, her supervisors suggest a sabbatical; she takes her six-year-son (Heathcliff!) off to London for an extended stay at her friend’s house, happily escaping after an almost-kiss with her husband's best friend, attorney Henry, who is helping her untangle some mysterious details of a trust for Heathie. While in London, she meets with her agent to negotiate a second book (and film!) based on her successful young adult novel, a romance hailed as the next Twilight that’s a magical take on Wuthering Heights. She bumps into another writer who writes popular thrillers, and allows him to pursue her, simultaneously charmed and repulsed by his behavior, and his attraction to her affectations of her grief. Lizzie finds herself befriended by Bella, who plays Cathy in the movie adaptation of Lizzie’s book, who is involved in a love triangles in both the film and IRL. This is wonderfully gothic, well-crafted tale of love and grief and longing that pays homeage to Wuthering Heights, complete with a love triangle, obsession, desperate longing, and hiking on the moors. 

Nelly Dean: A Return to Wuthering Heights by Alison A. Case 🌶️
In this reimagining of Wuthering Heights through the eyes of the Catherine's loyal young servant, Nelly Dean is raised alongside her employer's children Catherine and Hindley practically as a member of the family until Heathcliff is added to the mix. Her love affair with Hindley's son Hareton results in an illegitimate heir, reduced to a life as an illiterate, uneducated laborer by a vengeful Heathcliff. The slow pace is rife with passion, violence, betrayal, revenge, and especially suffering as Nelly endures the thoughtless cruelty of the gentry she serves.

Solsbury Hill by Susan A. Wyler 🌶️ 
When a surprise call brings twenty-something up-and-coming fashion designer from New York to the Yorkshire Moors, Eleanor discovers she is to inherit Trent Hall, the family estate, where Bronte composed some of her singular novel. Having left behind her childhood sweetheart turned cheating fiancé, Eleanor encounters her dying aunt's ward, the enigmatic Meadowscarp McLeod, as well as the pervasive ghostly presence of Brontë herself. Following a long history of women in her family making mistakes in their romances, Eleanor finds herself caught between her love for Miles and for Meadowscarp amid the howling winds off the moors. This atmospheric and inventive romance makes a case that Wuthering Heights’s central theme of finding (and losing) a great love amid the moors was based on actual events, as proven by letters Eleanor discovers with the aid of Bronte's ghost.

What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix by Tasha Suri 🌶️
As the abandoned son of a lascar—a sailor from India—Heathcliff has spent most of his young life maligned as an "outsider." Now he's been flung into an alien life in the Yorkshire moors, where he clings to his birth father's language even though it makes the children of the house call him an animal, and the maids claim he speaks gibberish. Catherine is the younger child of the estate's owner, a daughter with light skin and brown curls and a mother that nobody talks about. Her father is grooming her for a place in proper society, and that's all that matters. Catherine knows she must mold herself into someone pretty and good and marriageable, even though it might destroy her spirit. As they occasionally flee into the moors to escape judgment and share the half-remembered language of their unknown kin, Catherine and Heathcliff come to find solace in each other. Deep down in their souls, they can feel they are the same. But when Catherine's father dies and the household's treatment of Heathcliff only grows more cruel, their relationship becomes strained and threatens to unravel. For how can they ever be together, when loving each other—and indeed, loving themselves—is as good as throwing themselves into poverty and death? This fresh take on an old classic subverts the default whiteness of the original text.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger 🌶️🌶️
Time traveling is a genetic disorder like epilepsy in this story modelled after The Odyssey, with Henry always slipping out of time, and his beloved wife Claire, an artist, left behind like Penelope, longing and waiting for his return. She has known him most of her life, as he was drawn back through time to her in his 40s; when they meet in their 20s, he is a familiar sight to her, but to him, they have only just met. The narrative focuses on their tumultuous star-crossed relationship; her art, which is sculptural and involves mostly birds, crafted from handmade paper; his work as a librarian at a world-class institution; their desire to conceive a child; and their search for a cure to Henry's inconvenient disorder. Tons of literary allusions, the Chicago locale, and their punk rock aesthetic create a multi-sensory, rich backdrop to a story that to some will resonate as star-crossed fated mates--and to others, a warning tale of grooming and privilege.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley 🌶️🌶️ 
The narrative of this science fiction book moves back and forth between the tragic disaster of the ship Erebus, stranded at the Northwest Passage for several years, and present day Britain, where a time travel device allows specific people with potential to be rescued from certain death and brought forward in time to play a role in the fight against climate change. An agent assigned to a traveler inconveniently falls for her charge, and their relationship is an intense slow burn that incorporates both passion and destruction. The characters are complex, the writing excellent, the plotting clever, the narrative compelling.  There is a bit of a disconnect with typical time travel stories, where the basic premise includes rules like "the future is already set" and "going back into the past cannot change or derail things," and "you can’t meet your future or past self." If you are willing to suspend your disbelief, you’ll be rewarded with a tale that will have you googling the Northwest passage and crushing on Commander Graham Gore as unapologetically as the author and the narrator.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 
Can you wholly love two separate people with your one heart? Claire, a war nurse on holiday with her officer husband Frank, seeks to rekindle their marriage, spent mostly apart during WWII. She gamely trots off to look for flowers to press in the Scottish highlands while he's on a family history search. On a  pagan feast day, she slips through a pair of standing stones and finds herself 200 years in the past, deeply in danger and in the middle of a skirmish between the locals and the British army. Only marriage to a Scotsman--Jamie, a laird with a price on his head--will keep her from being apprehended by the British, and she finds herself developing feelings for her new husband, while still longing for her first one. The adventure is as heart-pounding as the passion; violence, love, betrayal and passion are recurring themes, and both locations and secondary characters are richly drawn. Claire is a feisty, twentieth-century feminist whose mouth gets her into trouble on more than one occasion, and the historical and cultural details are thoroughly researched.

Note: The chili peppers denote the steaminess, or spice level, of the book's romantic/intimate elements; visit https://www.romance.io/steamrating for the key.

Zephaniah Baker: Head Librarian and So Much More...

We recently wrote a post about the early years of Worcester Public Library where we briefly introduced you to our first head librarian, Zephaniah Baker. While Zephaniah Baker isn't as well-known a figure in our library's history compared to Dr. John Green or Samuel Swett Green, he certainly had a number of professions and interests that we felt might be worthy of its own blog post. In addition to being the first head librarian charged with starting and maintaining the public library, Baker was a minister, farmer, bookseller, world traveler, author, and architect! So sit back, relax, and get ready to read about the man the Worcester Evening Gazette described in 1964 as a "screwball genius!"

Zephaniah Baker (Photograph by 1890s photographer Herman Schervee of an earlier image of unknown origin), from the American Antiquarian Society

Zephaniah Baker: The Beginning

So who was Zephaniah Baker? Zephaniah Baker was born July 17, 1815, in Dudley, Massachusetts to Mercy and Jacob Baker, a farmer, and was the third of their five children, the last of whom died in infancy. Zephaniah also had four half-siblings from his mother's first marriage to Zebulon Morris, who died in 1806. 

Many of the details of his early life appeared in the autobiography that he wrote in March 1889, a little more than five years before he passed away. While we have not located a copy of this autobiography, it is referenced in a publication by one of our other former head librarians, Robert K. Shaw, Some Notes on Zephaniah Baker, 1815 - 1894, that was read before the Worcester Historical Society in 1936. One of Zephaniah's reminisces of his youth mentions his love of books after a girl he befriended moved away, "She was forgotten, as I got hold of reading, then books became my society, aside of Mother and home" (Shaw, 1936, p. 3). Baker was listed as a student at Nichols Academy studying Greek in 1835. Beloved father Jacob Baker died in 1836 when Zephaniah was 21, as a result of injuries incurred two years prior in an accident. 

The Clergyman

Zephaniah Baker took comfort in religion after the death of his father, and later became a Universalist minister where he preached at services throughout New England. He married his first wife, Frances Maria Shedd, (hereafter "Mrs. Baker"), on June 1, 1840 in Chester, Vermont.

Reverend Baker and Mrs. Baker moved around a couple of times in his role as clergyman, including to Connecticut and New York. Not all of his Fifth Universalist Society of New York congregants appreciated his labors. According to the September 20, 1848, issue of the religious newspaper Boston Investigator, one objector declared, "He appears so much like a mechanic!!" (Yes, the quote did in fact have two exclamation marks). Unfortunately, Reverend Baker was "obliged to relinquish [his duties as minister of the New York congregation] on account of bronchial difficulty, whereby speech was denied him" (Lincoln, 1862, p. 338). By 1850, Baker and his wife were living in Akron, Ohio, where his occupation was listed as "Clergyman Uni" (Universalist) in the 1850 federal census.

1850 Federal Census Record Showing Zephaniah and Frances Baker

Baker and his wife would occasionally write columns or be featured in articles in the Boston-based Trumpet and Universalist magazine when they returned to New England. Baker would also continue to perform weddings and preach even after he became Worcester's head librarian in 1860.

The Bookseller

By 1854, the Bakers were back in Massachusetts, and Zephaniah Baker took ownership of a Worcester book and stationery business at "The Old Stand" (184 Main Street, opposite the American Temperance House) from Edward Livermore. Baker renamed the company as "Z. Baker & Co." and by January 1855, opened a second bookstore at the No. 2 Worcester House Block (Main Street between Elm and Maple Streets). In the same month, Z. Baker & Co. offered a special offer on books to entice tobacco users to give up the habit. 

Advertisement from The Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser for 1855

Special Offer, Worcester Daily Spy, January 20, 1855.

The second bookstore store was short lived. Z. Baker & Co. sold the store at No. 2 Worcester House Block by April, and a couple of months later became enmeshed in a competitor war in the local newspapers with Edward Livermore. Edward Livermore had left Worcester after originally selling his business to Baker in 1854 to build a publishing company in New York City but then started a new book business in September 1855 at the No. 2 Worcester House Block in Worcester (yes, one of the former locations of Z. Baker & Co.!) with J.K. Banister (also spelled Bannister in some newspapers) as his agent. Baker felt Livermore should not have dared compete with his business. Below are three notices published in the Worcester Daily Spy on October 5, 1855. Edward Livermore's Worcester store would last less than a year but he continued to be a publisher in New York thereafter.

Correspondence by Z. Baker & Co., Worcester Daily Spy, October 5, 1855

Correspondence by J. K. Bannister, Worcester Daily Spy, October 5, 1855

Correspondence by J. K. Banister, Worcester Daily Spy, October 5, 1855

By late October 1855, Z. Baker & Co. added a partner and became "Baker, Trumbull & Barnes" but in May of the following year, the partnership was dissolved and the name of the company reverted back to Z. Baker & Co.

Advertisement for Z. Baker & Co., Worcester Daily Transcript, July 11, 1857

Z. Baker & Co. existed for two more years, with the addition and then dissolution of a copartnership with William H. Sanford in 1857. William H. Sanford took over the business and acquired the books and other merchandise from Z. Baker & Co. in November 1857. 

The final references to Baker & Co.'s bookselling business in the local newspapers occurred in 1859 and 1860, when Z. Baker and his former business partner, Moses Barnes, were sued by John Marcy over an outstanding loan of $1000, even though Barnes claimed the note was a forgery. The jury of the second trial eventually found for Marcy.

The Author, Publisher, and Builder

Of course, Zephaniah Baker wasn't only interested in merely selling books during that time. In 1856, Baker wrote and published a book entitled, The Cottage Builder's Manual, that consisted of his thoughts, plans, and specifications for constructing cottages. Baker was the architect of several round houses during the height of that architectural style's popularity, including 12-sided and 8-sided structures, at least one of which still exists today in Dudley! The Cottage Builder's Manual is currently available to read electronically in the public domain at the following Google Books link. In 1857, Baker wrote another book about building houses entitled, Modern House Builder, From the Log Cabin and Cottage to the Mansion. This book is also available in the public domain via the following Google Books link.

Architectural Plan for a 12-Sided Cottage, from The Cottage Builder's Manual, 1856

Google Streetview Image (captured Aug 2023) of a House Built by Zephaniah Baker

Zephaniah Baker would also publish other books throughout the years. For instance he would publish an English translation of the Chinese Classics as translated by James Legge of the London Missionary Society. Of course, English publishers in London felt that only they had the right to publish an English language translation by Legge, but it seems that Baker's publication was allowed to occur in the absence of international copyright law.

The Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge and published by Z. Baker

The Head Librarian

February 17, 1860 brought a new career for Zephaniah Baker: first head librarian of the Worcester Free Public Library. You can read more about his tenure at the library in our blog post but some highlights during this time include officially opening the library in its temporary Bank Block Building location; organizing and maintaining the library in its new Elm Street building location, along with Miss Callina Barnes as first assistant and his wife, Mrs. Baker, as the second assistant; and instituting several changes, including opening the library's first reading room. 

The Second Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library indicated that, "Mr. Baker's almost intuitive knowledge of books has been of great service" (p. 4). Zephaniah Baker was also generous with his own books and his desire to put needed books into the hands of patrons. In fact, as he wrote in The Eighth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, "I have loaned freely from my private collection when the Library did not have the book wanted. It has been my endeavor to meet each and every call for books as expeditiously as possible, and in the exact spirit of the request" (p.15). Zephaniah Baker would be in charge of the library until 1871.

Of course, the Civil War occurred during Baker's tenure. Both Bakers were involved in the abolitionist movement, with the head librarian writing a letter to the editor of the Worcester Daily Spy supporting the fight to be "free of this accursed rebellion and the curse (slavery) that has bred it."

Editor Spy, Worcester Daily Spy, January 18, 1864

Zephaniah's personality shines through some of the remarks shared in Robert K. Shaw's publication. One office boy for a nearby bookstore remembered Zephaniah Baker during the late 1860s as being "a man of genial temperament" and a "ready conversationalist." However, "[Zephaniah] and his cronies would often linger to chat after the closing hour of eight in the evening, to the intense disgust and annoyance of the impatient office boy" (Shaw, 1936, p. 1A)

The World Traveler

Zephaniah Baker took a two-month trip abroad without his wife towards the end of his tenure as head librarian to visit libraries and acquire books to add to the library's collection. He also wrote about his experiences in Europe in several Worcester Evening Gazette and Aegis and Gazette columns, where he cantankerously complained about the English and their prolific use of profanity. He seemed to love France and Switzerland, but was not a fan of Scotland (specifically the Scottish people and their alleged vices). He mentioned that his birds accompanied him on his voyage and complained about the food on his passage back to the United States on one of the Anchor Lines steamships. He also seemed to despise his short stay in Liege, Belgium, stating, "Our train left us for the night at Liege, and for a long time, I was quite sure we had been dropped in Sodom" (Aegis and Gazette, April 23, 1870).

Passport Application for Zephaniah Baker, June 1869

Notes on Foreign Travel, Worcester Evening Gazette, December 6, 1869

Notes on Foreign Travel, Aegis & Gazette, January 22, 1870

The Farmer

In addition to all of his other activities, Baker had a farm in Dudley, where he raised horses and showed some of them at exhibitions and related agricultural shows. He was also involved in the Dudley Farmers' Club and served on the executive board for a number of years after his retirement from the library. The 1870 death of one of his horses, a massive horse weighing 2,250 pounds known as Clydesdale Tom, was so noteworthy that it was mentioned in the Worcester Daily Spy! Eleven months later in 1871, the papers reported that Baker intended to have the skeleton of Clydesdale Tom properly mounted as a natural history specimen. We're not sure what happened to the remains in the interim between Clydesdale Tom's death and the mounting of the skeleton, or where the mounted remains were finally displayed.

The Retiree

Zephaniah Baker announced to Worcester that he was starting up his bookselling business again in December 1870, a couple of weeks before it was announced that he would no longer serve as head librarian of the Worcester Free Public Library. It appears that this business located at 3 Lincoln House Block was short-lived. 

Zephaniah Baker and Mrs. Baker* were living at different addresses according to the 1870 federal census and divorced presumably in the early 1870s. Divorce was a somewhat uncommon practice in those days, although not rare. They never had any children. Oddly enough (or maybe not so odd since we've definitely seen errors in vital records while doing local history or genealogy research in the past), her death record in 1891 indicates that she was the widow of Zephaniah, even though she died before him. 

He later married his second wife, Sarah Dwight on April 27, 1873.  He was 57 and she was 35 at the time of their marriage and they also never had any children. According to a letter by Mr. D. H. Dwight, a cousin of Sarah, "[Zephaniah] was a fluent and interesting talker, of generous disposition and well liked by the young people; a brainy man, but rather eccentric" (Shaw, 1936, p. 24).

As we previously mentioned, Zephaniah Baker continued to write in his later years. In addition to his autobiography, Baker authored a chapter on the history of Dudley in the two volume book, History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published in 1879.

Zephaniah Baker died at the age of 79 from stomach cancer on November 24, 1894, in Southbridge. He was buried in the Baker family plot at the Village Cemetery in Dudley. Sarah Dwight Baker would die in 1919. Randomly, the Worcester Evening Gazette in 1964 claimed that Baker built a carriage with a round body and that when he died, his mortal remains were left to Harvard College. We have not seen any proof to back up these statements so we'd take them with a grain of salt.

Conclusion

So there you have it: biographical sketches of our complicated but multitalented first head librarian, Zephaniah Baker. We hope you've you learned a something new today. For more information about the history of the Worcester Public Library, we invite you to view our older blog posts at the following link.

P.S.

*Honestly, we found Frances Baker's life fascinating, especially her independent life where she was a teacher as well as a lecturer at the Worcester Natural History Society after she separated from Zephaniah. We'll have to share more about her in a future blog! 

Sources:

Baker, Z. (1856). The Cottage Builder's Manual. Z. Baker & Co.

Baker, Z. (1857). Modern House Builder, From the Log Cabin and Cottage to the Mansion. Higgins, Bradley, and Dayton.

Baker, Z. (1864, January 18). "Editor Spy." Worcester Daily Spy, p. 2. 

Baker, Z. (1869, December 6). "Notes on Foreign Travel." Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 1.

Baker, Z. (1870, January 13). "Notes on Foreign Travel." Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 1.

Baker, Z. (1870, January 22). "Notes on Foreign Travel." Aegis and Gazette, p. 4.

Baker, Z. (1870, March 5). "Notes on Foreign Travel." Aegis and Gazette, p. 5.

Baker, Z. (1870, April 23). "Notes on Foreign Travel." Aegis and Gazette, p. 3.

"Baker's Edition of 'The Chinese Classics.'" (1866, June 15). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 2.

"County News." (1871, November 4). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1.

"Court Record." (1859, April 20). Worcester Daily Transcript, p. 2.

"Death of a Mammoth Horse." (1870, December 12). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1.

"Dissolution of Copartnership." (1856, May 27). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 3.

"Our Rich Men." (1857, August 31). Worcester Daily Transcript, p. 2.

Free Public Library. (1862). The Second Annual Report of the Free Public Library, Worcester.

Grow, J. F. (1964, January 20). "Good Evening." Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 7.

Lincoln, W. (1862). History of Worcester, Massachusetts from Its Earliest Settlement to September 1836. Charles Hersey.

Shaw, R. (1936). Some Notes on Zephaniah Baker, 1815 - 1894.

"Supreme Court." (1860, April 18). Massachusetts Spy, p. 2.

The Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser for 1855. (1855). Henry J. Howland.

Z. Baker & Co. (1855, April 6). "Agents! Book Agents!!" Worcester Daily Journal, p. 3.

Z. Baker & Co. (1855, October 23). "Copartnership Notice." Worcester Transcript, p. 3.

New Releases - March 2026 Edition

Check out these highly anticipated new releases featuring fiction and nonfiction titles. Click on the title to request a copy or get your name on the waitlist. Don’t forget to watch for more featured releases next month!

NONFICTION

A History of Women in Music from Antiquity to Present Day by Dale DeBakcsy
In 2024, women swept the Grammy awards, prompting headlines about their arrival in music. However, women have been shaping pivotal musical developments over the past 3,000 years. A History of Women in Music from Antiquity to the Present Day is a magisterial survey of their manifold contributions to musical history around the world, from Sappho to Nicki Minaj, M.S. Subbulakshmi to Madonna, and Hildegard of Bingen to AKB48. Here are the stories of the women who worked their way from the secret palace performers of sixteenth-century Italy to the quasi-divine operatic divas of nineteenth-century France, whose artistry made the Blues a profitable venue for Black vocalists at the dawn of the recording age, who composed chaste love ballads in the Middle Ages, and less chaste Hyperpop lust ballads in the TikTok Age, all while carrying out the decades-long battle of fighting for representation in some of the world's most male-coded musical forms, as singers of boleros and rancheras in Central America, heavy metal warriors and rap queens in the United States, operatic composers in Europe, reggaeton divas in Puerto Rico, and instrumentalists in a jazz landscape that only barely tolerated their presence as vocalists for forty long years. This book tells the long story of a global movement carried out at first country by country and woman by woman, until the weight of their amassed contributions burst open the gates of resistance, and cleared the way for women's musical prominence today. Whether you're trying to escape another Manic Monday, are curious What Love Has To Do With It (answer: quite a lot), or simply want to step Into The Groove for a while, there are stories and songs here aplenty to let you connect with the long and fascinating lineage of women who took the world by the ears, and poured therein the full measure of their rich musical genius. -Provided by publisher.

Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History by Caroline Tracey 
"Salt lakes are some of the world's most extraordinary ecosystems, but nearly all of them-from the Great Salt Lake to the Aral Sea and beyond-are drying up. Their decline is already the second-largest contributor to sea level rise, and their future loss will create widespread dust storms, threatening the water cycle, migratory birds, and human health. In Salt Lakes, Caroline Tracey takes readers on her travels across the American West, to Mexico, Argentina, and Kazakhstan, exquisitely describing the strange world of salt lakes, documenting their loss, and tracing efforts to save them. She delves into Mormon diaries, Soviet realist novels, and Australian Aboriginal paintings to make sense of how salt lakes have reflected the fast-changing natural world around us, while unraveling the lakes' lessons for her own life as she finds queer love and a sense of home in an imperfect world. Salt Lakes is a love letter to a strange and delicate ecosystem-and a moving call to fight for all that is fragile in our lives."
-Provided by publisher. 

Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America by Andrew McCarthy
Bestselling travel writer McCarthy (Walking with Sam) offers a heartwarming meditation on male friendship. A pointed question from his son—“You don’t really have any friends, do you, Dad?”—inspires the author to reconsider his “self-induced isolation” and set out on cross-country drive to reconnect with former close friends. Over the course of a sprawling journey from Appalachia to the Southwest, McCarthy not only rekindles his relationships but makes impromptu, thematically appropriate stops—like at a museum dedicated to lonesome musical legend Roy Orbison—and, most intriguingly, chats with men he meets in bars and other hangouts about their friendships or lack thereof. He encounters several sets of lifelong best friends (including Mississippi duo Chuck and Dan, whose grandfathers were also best friends) and a slew of alienated loners (“I stick to myself,” one construction worker explains). These surprisingly open conversations allow McCarthy to interrogate what blocks male connection, particularly men’s fear of vulnerability and their sense that it’s easier to be emotional with women. McCarthy’s journey exposes how infrequently friendship is discussed at all in American culture—as one journalist notes, “People are reluctant to discuss friendship because it has no immediacy, no monetary value”—even as there is a widespread hunger to talk about it. The result is a poignant, life-affirming look at American men yearning for closer bonds. -Copyright 2026 Publisher’s Weekly 

FICTION 

The Fortune Flip by Lauren Kung Jessen 
Jessen (Yin Yang Love Song) offers up a charming mix of romance and philosophy in this well-crafted contemporary. Perpetually unlucky data analyst Hazel Yen is having an awful day: her apartment building's pipes burst, she's laid off, and her divorce is finalized. She impulsively heads to a fortune teller, hoping for reassurance about things to come--only to have the reading interrupted by a drenched man in tie-dye walking a cat on a leash. He's Logan Wells, a perpetually lucky carpenter, and he offers Hazel half of what turns out to be a winning Powerball ticket as an apology for barging in. Their unexpected win causes their fortunes to flip, with Hazel experiencing a run of good luck and Logan bad, setting them on a quest to understand the very nature of luck--and each other. Though their initial meet-cute feels a bit contrived, the central couple is easy to root for: Logan is a golden retriever of a hero who gradually learns from overly honest Hazel how to work through the negative instead of ignoring it; meanwhile, Hazel learns to set boundaries with her gambling addict father and wannabe-influencer brother. Readers will be well-pleased with this insightful romance between two people who, in discovering more about each other, discover a lot about themselves. Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly

Hard Times by Jeff Boyd
The relationship between the men and women in blue and the citizens of Chicago has been a tenuous one. Curtis Thompson experiences this every day while walking the beat as a Chicago cop, and each interaction carries the potential of escalation. The night he and his partner stop two young people, Truth and Dontell, it accelerates into a shooting that could end his career and tear the city apart. Buddy Mack is Curtis's brother-in-law and teaches at Mayfield High School on Chicago's South side. The ideological opposite of Curtis, he cares about his students, and when Truth's cousin Zeke informs him about certain information he has discovered, Buddy wants to help in any way he can. However, when Buddy learns of Curtis's culpability in the shooting of one of his students, his loyalties are torn between family and his career. This is a poignant novel that explores the tragic consequences of corruption, moral compromises, and the family ties that are often as polarizing as they are binding. VERDICT Boyd (The Weight) has composed a gritty and compelling drama with a stellar plot featuring a fascinating group of characters and a stirring denouement.  -Copyright 2026 Library Journal

Upward Bound by Woody Brown 
The residents and staff of an underfunded adult care center in Los Angeles form the core of Brown's singular debut novel. Chief among them is narrator Walter, who, like the author, is nonspeaking and autistic. Describing his autism as "like ADHD times a thousand," Walter is observant and capable, transcribing his thoughts. Though he has graduated with honors from community college, he can't be left on his own. When his father dies and his mom has to return to work, he is forced to spend his days at Upward Bound. Readers meet others at the facility through Walter's eyes and the characters' own, including "gentle giant" Jorge, movie-star handsome Tom, who has cerebral palsy, saintly aide Carlos, summer lifeguard Ann, and many more. "The story of my people isn't being told, or it's being told wrong," Walter thinks, and he sets out to remedy that situation. Brown's sly sense of humor and ability to inhabit, without condescension, the experiences of those often marginalized, including the bumbling but well-intentioned caregivers, make the novel both quietly surprising and gently enlightening. Copyright 2026 Booklist

Romance on Ice: Heated Rivalry Read-A-Likes

Heated Rivalry, an HBO Max series about two professional, Olympic tier, closeted men who fall for one another after years of hookups, has brought Rachel Reid's Game Changers series to the forefront of pop culture this winter. Sports romances are nothing new: elite athletes match because they may share drives and goals, competitive streaks, compatible lifestyles and schedules, as well as a passion for their sport; their superstitions, curated diet, and lack of availability due to travel require a certain level of understanding that only someone in a similar situation can relate to. 

Whether you can't get enough of Heated Rivalry and want a steamy readalike, are a Boston Bruins fan looking for a sports romance, or love the idea of tough hockey players falling for even tougher figure skaters, read on for a list of suggestions for romance set on--and off--the ice.

Game Changers series by Rachel Reid 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

In Heated Rivalry, two rookie players who are often compared--and set against one another--have a competitive rivalry on the ice, but off the ice, have a series of hookups, over years, while dating women. Once a colleague kisses his boyfriend after winning the Stanley Cup, though, will it allow Canadian Shane Hollander and Russian Ilya Romanov to face their very real feelings for one another? Reid's romances are exceptional for the development of emotional connections between her characters. The novels also address pressure and expectations from family, fans, and even country; homophobia in professional sports; the fame game and choices to be made when one has so much money at one's disposable; mental health; balancing public and private life, and so much more. The complete Game Changers series is currently available in ebook format--no waiting!--through Hoopla.

Him series by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy: Him / Us / Epic  🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
This M/M hockey romance is the closest read-alike match to Game Changers in plot and spice level. In Him, childhood friends at hockey camp were best buds on and off the ice, until Wes realized he was attracted to Jamie and cut off their friendship. At the end of their college days, both are called back as counselors for the camp, where they reconnect on more than one level. Jamie always believed himself to be straight, but can’t fight his attraction to his teammate and roommate any longer. In Us, the guys are together, but apart due to Wes's signing to a professional hockey team, which means he's traveling` for work, and back in the closet. In Epic, Jamie is being scouted to play for another National team, and that, coupled with his mental health struggles, put a strain on his and Wes's relationship. Blistering hot, talkative, highly consensual intimate scenes between the two athletes are balanced out with the mundanities of life, ongoing pranking and superstitions, exciting hockey game play by play, and internal growth as they angst of divulging their relationship, and then struggle to maintain the relationship over time, through distance, and between professional obligations.

Always Only You by Chloe Liese  🌶️🌶️🌶️
Loosely following the themes of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, hockey player Ren is an outlier in his family of soccer players, but he’s great at what he does on the ice–and off, always up for whatever social media scheme the team’s PR prickly person, Frankie, has cooked up. Frankie is on the spectrum, and suffers from a chronic illness, while Swedish Ren is a self-proclaimed nerd who is the nicest, most modest, unruffled hockey player ever, hosting a Shakespeare Club on the side. Sweet, sensual writing with emotional depth and literary allusions.

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey  🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
This age-gap workplace romance launches when single (grumpy) dad and hockey star Burgess hires broke, aspiring marine biologist Tallulah to be the live-in nanny for his tweenager. The lovers are in very different spots in their lives, and Tallulah is still recovering from past trauma; their off-the-charts chemistry makes it all work. The novel was a roller-coaster of drama and emotion, mostly based on the characters being stuck in their ways, and having baggage to work through, and while they do change and grow to be a better partner for each other, there was a lot of miscommunication, cringe, and stereotypical behavior. Bailey excels at hot men who like to talk in bed, and The Au Pair Affair is no exception.

Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly: Wicked Serve / Breakaway 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
In this new adult series about secret relationships, Wicked Serve focuses on volleyball player Izzy and her brother’s hockey rival Nikolai, enjoying a no-strings-attached summer romance during Izzy’s party planning internship with Nikolai’s mother. In Breakaway, coach’s daughter Penny has had some unsatisfying relationship experiences and past trauma, and has a bucket list that her new friends-with-benefits Cooper is happy to explore at her pace, with full consent. Reilly excels at creating warm, authentic, characters; pitch perfect college-age dialogue; complex situations; and passionate intimacy.

B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake by Stacey Agdern 🌶️
Two students in an adult b’nai mitzvah class clash, so of course, they are paired together on a project. Judith, who works for a Jewish charitable organization, needs to find a Jewish athlete for her nephew to interview; Ash, a hockey player who wants to start a foundation supporting Jewish athletes, is willing to step in if she’ll help him out with his foundation. The Jewish content is rich with familiar traditions, cultural touchstones, and a careful balance of referencing but not over-explaining, with a sprinkling of Hebrew and Yiddish throughout; the author is a knowledgeable fan of the game, so the hockey parts ring true.

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Single, hockey playing widow Mike falls for his daughter Olivia’s dance teacher Aurora in this charming sports romance. When he proposes that Rory, who has a strong connection with Olivia, provide some childcare in the form of a ride home and babysitting, Rory agrees, and pretty soon, Mike’s trying to solve Rory’s rent problem by inviting her to move into the lower level of his home...Mental health--Mike's grief, Rory's anxiety--is a strong theme throughout the novel, and love letters, Wikipedia articles, and text messages enhance the narrative and move the story along. Therapy scenes are juxtaposed against intimate ones: emotional and forthright, sometimes a little raw, insightful, asking for what they need, sharing their emotions, and communicating.

Fated Skates by Victoria Schade 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Olympic figure skater Quinn suffered a fall in her last bid for a gold, but she's recovered from her injury (and from some of her humiliation) and is ready to try again. A journalism team, inspired by her comeback, wants to do a feature on her, and her reluctance is only partly her desire for privacy; the lead interviewer is none other than the retired speed skater she had an almost thing with a four years ago.  Issues of privacy, stage moms, eating disorders, competition, controlling your narrative, depression, athleticism, pressure to succeed, and women in sports compound and amplify the vulnerabilities and desires of the protagonists. 

The Favorites by Layne Fargo 🌶️🌶️
An instant connection between two skating underdogs makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites a public obsession seeking to uncover the “real story” through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy. So, after a decade of silence, she’s telling her story: from the childhood tragedies that created her all-consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines. The writing is literary, with excellent plotting.

The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
This “falling for my best friend’s brother” romance is set locally in Boston, and author Ferguson does the city, its' climate and its' sports fanaticism proud. Delilah’s homegrown cooking show isn’t generating interest, and is in danger of being canceled. Hockey star Ian Chase’s recent public breakup is bad PR for his nice guy persona. The baker and a hockey player join forces to boost ratings for her baking show and to make over his reputation. The flirty banter is fun, the pacing is quick, and the culinary details delicious. This is a solid addition to the hockey romance ouevre, with slightly older characters.

Isn't It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Russian hockey player Vlad--known for his moves on the ice, his odor, and his wise insights--sets out to move the barometer of his marriage of with the childhood friend he’s in love with from “brink of divorce” to “the real deal” in this sweet and suspenseful second chance romance. When he gets injured, his wife steps in to assist him and it’s the opportunity they needed to reconnect and (finally!) consummate their marriage of convenience. Subplots involve the Russian mob and an underground cheese ring. Part of the Bromance Book Club series featuring professional athletes and business moguls in Chicago, this is a lighthearted, funny read with an emotional punch.

Maple Hills series: Icebreaker / Wildfire / Daydream by Hannah Grace🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
In Icebreaker, when a prank goes wrong and puts one rink out of commission, the hockey team and figure skaters at Maple Hills College in LA need to share the remaining rink, and skater Stas gets into a complicated relationship with her frenemy, hockey captain Nate. In Wildfire, a couple has a one-night stand and then turn up as co-counselors at the same summer camp, and come up against a "no-dating" rule. They agree to be friends, and love blossoms slowly and beautifully. In Daydream, bookworm and aspiring writer Hallie meets neurospicy Henry when he crashes her book group, and they become fast friends. The writing is fast and emotional, the banter is fun and flirty, and the sexy scenes are athletic and spicy. Grace excels at observational details that set a scene, dual points of view, and the slow burn.

Not In Love (Not In Love #1) by Ali Hazelwood 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Sports is not at all the focus of this academic/STEM themed spicy romance between a food engineer and the science entrepreneur who is intent on taking down the company she works for, and her mentor along with it. Rue and Eli have an instant connection, and only later learn they may have crossed paths when she was a skater and he played hockey. Minute industry details, from behind-the-scenes at the labs, from methodology to meetings to schedules, to real estate law, patent law, and business negotiations, add another level of authenticity. Hazelwood's shame-free racy writing showcases characters who are kinky, inventive, and chatty--who care deeply about each other's consent, pleasure, and comfort.

Check out our Romance on Ice booklist for even more featured reads!