Synopsis

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 a 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.

What scandals led Frank Wolff to abandon his younger children at an orphanage far from home? And why did his elder children keep this a secret for eighty years?

Based on true family history, A Wolff in the Family is a gripping saga permeated with misogyny, prejudice, and passion . . . for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds.

Amazon * B&N * Bookshop * Kobo

Interview

What inspired you to write “A Wolff in the Family”?

At a memorial service for one of my mother’s myriad brothers and sisters, an aunt mentioned offhandedly, “When we were in the orphanage…” and I was taken aback. My mother, long dead and the eldest child, had never mentioned this. I said, “Aunt Dorothy, what orphanage? What are you talking about?” She then gave me two or three more surprising comments which led me to inquire with other family members, and meld it with what my mother had related… and I  thought it was just too juicy a story to pass up. I’m the author in the family, so I felt that it fell to me.

How much of the book is true-to-life, and how much is fiction?

The main events of the story, including how the youngest children ended up in an orphanage and some of the events that led up to that, are factual, and most of the resulting repercussions are true as well. I had to surmise how some of these things came to pass, and using census records and family birth, marriage and death records, I pieced together where people would have been, which led me to guess how some of the characters could have met in a particular way or place; so some of that is made up but based on possibility. I also included family vignettes which really happened. I made up nearly all of the conversations, of course, which took place from 1918 through the early 1950’s, but I set everything in places that really existed. All of the characters were real people, some of whom I knew, with most of the names changed.

What was the research process like for you?

As a genealogy buff, I loved doing the research. Not only was looking up the census material fun for me, but researching newspapers for bits on a divorce, and how much things cost in those days in the areas where the story takes place. For instance, I learned that my mother’s family would likely not have afforded a vacuum yet but probably used a carpet sweeper. Details like this add realism to the story. My mother loved to sing, and I assumed her mother probably did as well, so I looked up which songs were popular at different points in the story, along with which films and celebrities. I felt immersed in the era from 1918 through the 40’s, especially.

What had your mother told you about her home life and her parents’ relationship?

My mother had told me she was the eldest of twelve children (there were actually more) and that she came to resent taking care of them, as the eldest, and also gave me some details of her childhood. She related that she was the last in the tub on Saturday nights and disliked being in the other kids’ dirty bathwater, and that her dad got the best piece of chicken and the youngest children got a wing or a neck, and that she hated that her mother bit her nails. She had told me her parents had been divorced and remarried, but held back all of the details of why they’d split up. I knew my grandfather, but he was very tight-lipped (like father, like daughter) and the grandmother I knew was my step-grandmother, which I did not know until I was around eleven; I then asked what had happened to my blood grandmother, and got a clipped answer.

What do you hope readers take away from the book, especially regarding the gender inequality that we see in Naomi’s life?

I would like people to take a look at how they might be judging family members and the choices they make, and the personality traits we and others have developed, which may only be a result of how people were raised. I would like people to consider how things, thankfully, have changed, with regard to the limitations racism and gender roles place upon us, and how the world one hundred years ago was far more limiting for women’s choices, and how secrecy can lead to more shame. For instance, laws today can be favorable for a wife as well as the husband; women are not as much considered chattel beholding to their spouses. And then, to look at how societal attitudes do still remain the same in many ways, in many locales, in many social or religious groups, as they were one hundred years ago. Some may even see this as a good thing, but I feel these judgements, and the social and mental restrictions they engender, limit human potential. In World War II, women became aware of their ability to earn money and be more than a domestic servant to the rest of the family, and this opened the door to first steps toward equality and pursuit of a more fulfilling life.

About the Author

FRANCINE FALK-ALLEN: was born in Los Angeles and has lived nearly all of her life in northern California. She had polio in 1951 and has lived her life as a disabled person, making an effort to be a “normie.”

Falk-Allen was originally an art major and later completed her BA in Managerial Accounting, running her own business for over thirty years. She has always sought creative outlets, such as painting, singing, and writing. She began doing extensive family genealogy research in 1999 and traced her maternal and paternal ancestors back to the 1600s.

Her first book, “Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability,” won gold and silver awards and was on several best books lists in 2018 and 2019, including Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, PopSugar, and BuzzFeed, and was nominated to 25 Women Making a Difference in 2019 by Conversations Magazine.

Her second book, “No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper,” received a Kirkus star, given to “books of exceptional merit” by Kirkus Reviews, and was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of August 2021. “No Spring Chicken” was also a finalist in Foreword Reviews’ Indie Awards in 2021.

Her third book, “A Wolff in the Family,” is a riveting early twentieth-century saga set in the western United States and based on scandalous family history.

Francine spends a significant amount of time managing the effects of post-polio. She facilitates a polio survivors’ group as well as a writing group and volunteers on her town’s Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Committee. She loves the outdoors, swimming, gardening, movies, well-written literature, being with friends, and sharing British tea and a little champagne now and then. She resides in San Rafael, California, with her husband.

Website * Facebook