Category: Isabella’s Books

Historical facts, background information, and excerpts from Isabella’s books.

Doris Farrand’s Vocation

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Cover_Doris Farrands Vocation resizedDoris Farrand’s Vocation is now available on Amazon!

How can two walk together except they be agreed?

College student Doris Farrand has her life all planned: She’ll earn her living as a schoolteacher until her boyfriend Richard graduates from seminary school as an ordained minister; then they’ll be married. Their future is so well planned, nothing can go wrong … until Doris receives news that turns her life upside down. Suddenly, she and Richard can’t agree on anything, including the future she once thought was set in stone. The only person who understands Doris’s predicament is fellow student Garrett Randall. As Garrett’s acquaintance with Doris turns to friendship, and she relies more and more on his wise Christian counsel, Doris realizes she has an important choice to make about her future and about the man she will marry.

This edition includes discussion questions, a biography of the author, and an introduction to Isabella Alden’s books by Christian author Jenny Berlin.

Click on the cover to read the first two chapters of Doris Farrand’s Vocation.

“I’m as chirk as can be.”

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Dictionary1

Isabella’s books contain some words and terms that are no longer in use. One word she regularly used in her books is chirk. For example:

“I’m as chirk as can be,” says Garrett Randall in Doris Farrand’s Vocation.

In Lost on the Trail, Dr. Evarts visits a sick student to “chirk Templeton up a little.”

And in Overruled, Mrs. Bramlett has a long talk with Marjorie and declares, “I feel quite chirked up; it does beat all how you manage to comfort a body!”

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, chirk was an informal word for cheer and was mostly commonly followed by the word, up.