Introduction

Based on a true story, A Wolff in the Family is a riveting saga of prejudice, passion, and revenge, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds. What mysterious scandals led a father to abandon the youngest of his children—and for the elder siblings to keep their shame secret for eighty years?

Frank and Naomi Wolff were happily married in 1908. She was a Kansas farmgirl; he was a railroad engineer. She was excited to embark upon her role as wife and mother with a hardworking man, and in their early years together they made a life in thriving Ogden, Utah. Despite Frank’s almost-constant absence for his job riding the rails, which left pretty Naomi to raise their children virtually alone, their romantic relationship begat fourteen offspring in eighteen years. Like other lower-middle-class women, Naomi’s life was consumed with caring for her brood, who became helpers as soon as they could fold a diaper—and who, by and by, were required to attend the school of hard knocks as much as public schools. Affection and struggle endured within the family, crowded into a humble house. Despite the respite of occasional family train trips across the plains, the marriage ultimately faced exceptional challenges, just before the Depression era began.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1

Ogden, Utah

January 1930

Frank Wolff stepped off the train into the cold night fog and onto the even colder concrete platform at Ogden station. He shivered involuntarily; steeling himself against the damp air, he stifled a second shudder. One more trip on the Union Pacific line, home again. But this time was unlike any before, and he didn’t intend to make the trip to Winfield, Kansas, again unless the railroad sent him through that area. If that happened, he’d do his best not to get off the train.

He ran his hand over his sandy-colored, pomaded hair. Minnie hated it when his hair was out of place, and he liked that about her. A tidy woman, as it should be. They were so well matched. If only she’d been available more than twenty years earlier. He was amused that she wanted him to refer to her as “Mrs. Woods” around others. They never used first names in public. Well, only in the boardinghouse kitchen, in front of her kids. And his children, when they’d been there. Oh, it would be good to get back to her next month.

He was tired. Beyond tired—exhausted. He had not expected this sadness to fatigue him. He had not expected, even, to feel sad. Every step felt heavy. Well, it was done. What I’ve done, I’ve done for the benefit of all concerned, he told himself. And the children would be better off, in the long run. He’d been surprised by the elegance of the old house acquired by the Lutheran Children’s Home; it was much swankier than their modest home in Ogden had been. The children would likely go to good homes . . . at least they’d probably be Lutheran. And maybe to families who were well-off—sometimes when people adopted it was because they had no children and had more money to spend on the ones they took in as a result. And . . . he knew that sometimes people adopted children because they needed more farm labor. Well, it wouldn’t hurt the children to do some hard work, if that came to pass. Mein Gott, I did farmwork myself as a teenager. It was tough, and would be tougher for younger kids. He put those thoughts out of his mind for now. Best not to dwell on what he had no control over.

He paused inside the tall, airy lobby. This was one of the loveliest terminals on his route. He never tired of the architecture. He sat down on one of the polished wooden benches, his worn leather overnight satchel beside him, and glanced around to see if anyone had left a newspaper. He just needed a moment to himself, a moment of stillness. He picked up an Ogden Times left by a traveler; ach, gut, today’s edition. A man needs his daily paper. He found the advertisement for the sale of the house. Good, the agent had done his work. Hopefully Anita had gone by there and cleaned the place up to show it. He wished Frances were still around; she was a pro at housecleaning. Naomi would have missed her home, her domain, her better kitchen, the whole place, but he sure didn’t want it. Too many memories.

Minnie Woods would never leave her house, he knew. Women got so attached to location. Besides, the Woods house was, well, quite a house. Almost new. He loved being on the railroad and all the stops in between—the freedom of being gone for weeks, months at a time—but he also liked being anchored in one place and the stature he gained through his steady home life.

Well, there’s nothing for it but to go home for the moment. A beer would taste good right now and help him sleep . . . but oh well, he’d have to do without. How long could Prohibition go on?

Maybe he would call Mother in Missouri tomorrow to let her know he’d arrived, and check on Carl and Henry. Or he could just write a letter. That would cost less.

A decade earlier:

Wyandotte County, Kansas

Summer, 1919

Back in the house, Frank had seen Naomi out the window, having a conversation over by the corral.

When she came to his side, he asked her, “What were you talking about with that Indian?”

“Now, Frank, I’m not sure he’s an Indian,” she said. “He might be, I can see that he does look kinda like one, but he talks just like anybody else. Like any farmhand. His name’s Foreland; that sounds like a white name to me. Maybe English like Sims, even. Plus, he’s related to the Chalmerses. We were just talkin’ about the horse . . . you know, that Josie’s been on our farms since I was young. Sis told me he was from Dover. He said his family’s got a farm there, but they didn’t need him for the summer, so he came down to help Mama. That’s all we talked about. It’s okay for me to have a conversation with my mother’s farmhand, isn’t it?”

Frank was thinking the guy was a little too good-looking, even for an Indian. Rough around the edges, not a city fellow, but still, something about him. And there had been that waiter at the station house. “Man, oh man, I told you before, you need to be careful talking to strangers. They might . . . they might think things.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Frank. I’m home with the kids twenty-four hours a day while you’re gone talkin’ to who knows who every day when you’re on the railroad. Here I am—pregnant again, surely not of interest to any man—and I took a little walk over to the corral to see the horse for a few minutes. A body never gets time to herself! I just like a little adult conversation once in a while, other than the iceman at home and my mother here and women at the church. No harm in that. You know it doesn’t mean anything!”

She bit a fingernail, searching her fingers for one that wasn’t down to the quick.

“Listen, believe you me, I don’t like some Indian or half-breed or whatever he is thinking he can just talk to my wife any time he likes, especially alone.” Frank knit his brows. “He’s not family; he’s a hired hand. You should only be talking to him if you need to ask him to do a chore, and he’s your mother’s worker, anyhow. You bet she can tell him what to do. And you know I don’t like it when you talk back to me. Don’t be getting uppity.”

She shook her head, smiling, put one arm around his waist, and gave him a squeeze. “Actually, he’s Mother’s distant cousin by marriage.”

Then how’d they get that Indian blood in there? Frank thought. He didn’t approve.

Frank stood up straight and looked away, but he put his arm around her as well and gave her a pat on her hip, enjoying his wife’s affection and comely little body, even with its swell of pregnancy. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Frank Wolff Sr. views himself as a man of principle. He has been shaped by the era in which he lives, and by his European parents. Do you see him as a person driven by his morals? What do you think his motivations are—and do you have sympathy for those motivations? What do you think of his capacity to love, and how did you see him expressing it?

2. What are Frank Wolff’s overarching personality traits? Which are beneficial to him or his family, and which are not? Do you see them as a product of his time, or unique to him? Do you think he sees himself the same way you do?

3. The Wolff family is raised with the dictums “Children should be seen and not heard” and “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Do you think children’s ideas and opinions are valid? How has correcting children’s undesirable behavior changed in the last one hundred years? Are children’s interests more respected today than they were then—and should they be?

4. Naomi seems to have a narrow range of choices with regard to larger decisions about the direction of her life. Do you agree with the lines, “Almost everything . . . in her life had been dictated by others or by the needs placed upon her by . . . family members or society”? How would you compare her friendship with Charley vs. her marriage with Frank? Today, having five children is considered to be a large family. Do you think Naomi expected to bear so many children? What would you guess about her attitude toward sex? Do you think she has relations with Frank out of obligation, joy, or passion, or all three? What do you think leads her to make the choices she does, and do you think she may have regretted any of them? What would you have done in her circumstances?

5. The railroad united the US both horizontally and vertically and created opportunities for people to move to more affluent economic centers if they wanted to, but it also allowed them to travel more easily for recreation and to stay in touch with family. Frank Wolff is gone on the railroad for his work much of the time. How do families today cope with long separations due to work, in ways unavailable to families a century ago? The Wolff family can travel anywhere in the US by train for free because of Frank’s job, but they mostly only use the train to see their families. Do you think this would be true today for a family that had access to unlimited free transportation within the US?

6. Railroad men in the 1800’s and early 1900’s had a reputation for having girlfriends in many towns, especially since they were absent from their wives much of the time. Do you think some of them may have chosen this line of work with this in mind? Discuss how attitudes about men or women having affairs have changed or remained the same over one hundred years and why you think this is so.

7. Minnie Woods has fewer children and more financial resources available than does Naomi, which makes her life much different from Naomi’s. What do you think of Frank’s attraction to both of these women? At one point, Minnie asks Frank, “What must you think of me?” What would you imagine Frank does think of Minnie and the choices she makes, especially with regard to him? Do you think he thinks of his relationship with her as being dissimilar or unrelated to his relationship with Naomi? Does he see it as necessary, convenient, his good fortune, or something else? What reasons can you see for his wanting to stay in Minnie’s boarding house? Is Frank “taking advantage” of Minnie? And for Minnie’s part, do you think she ever thinks of Frank as a potential long-term partner? Why or why not?

8. What did you think of the life Frances leads as a child? How does this affect her relationships with her siblings, and how does it influence her attitude toward life and toward men? What do you think her idea of a “good time” is, both as a child and as an adult? Do you find it surprising that she leaves the religion she was brought up with? Do you think that a century ago it was more unusual for a person to do this? How do you think this departure was seen then, and how would it be considered today?

9. Marie Palmen, arriving on her own from Germany, appears as a sympathetic character starting in Chapter 24. What do you think of her husband, Walter? Do you have empathy for his point of view? What do you imagine it would be like to arrive alone in the US, with little English, and find yourself in an unexpected situation? What do Marie’s subsequent decisions imply about her personality? Did you still find her to be a sympathetic character by the end of the book?

10. At one point Anita says to Frances, “Well, we’re not exactly poor, but we’re not exactly rich either.” Do you think this is said defensively, since Frances is complaining about her lack of new clothing, or just as a statement of fact? Do you think Naomi or Frank think of themselves as impoverished? How about the children? How would you describe the family’s financial condition?

11. What are Charley’s overarching personality traits? Do you think his being drawn to a friendship with Naomi is shaped by their both being “farm people?” Do you think it at least partly grows out of his never having been married? Does Naomi encourage the friendship? If you think she does, what actions or attitudes does she take that make you think this?

12. Racism is touched upon as a theme throughout the story, and discrimination against people referred to as “Okies” later in the saga. Charley is described as an American Indian, or a man who looks like he might be one. What is your experience, if any, regarding racism, or discrimination against lower economic status? Do you think attitudes are better or worse today than they were one hundred years ago? What personal experiences have led you to form that opinion?

13. It was common during the late 1800s and early 1900s for children to be put in orphanages. This was primarily an economic necessity, and often caused by the death or illness of one or both parents. How do you think the orphans in this story are affected by their time in the Lutheran Children’s Home? How do you think the experience influences their emotional ties to their parents? Which children do you think side with their father and which with their mother? Do you think Frank actually believes the children are going to be better off without him or their mother when he leaves them at the home?

14. When Anita learns the truth about what her father has done, she takes what might be considered a brave and bold step. What do you think about her in light of those actions? What kinds of attributes do you imagine she has? Do you think she fears retribution from her father? What does her decision and its follow-through tell you about her relationship with her siblings?

16. Everyone in this story faces daunting hardships, some born of the times and some of their personalities. In Naomi’s case, losing just one child would have been enough tragedy for one lifetime. What assumptions can you make about her character and qualities? Do you think Frances has these same qualities? Why do you think Frances keeps her parents’ actions a secret for her entire life, even from her children?

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