INTRODUCTION

Last Updated: July 21, 2011

INTRODUCTION

The Saga Begins

There are no apologies or excuses for any of what this book reveals nor for the frankness with which it is expressed. To downplay any of the events would be sheer hypocrisy. Years of watching my father and uncles instilled in me a firm belief that a person should embrace his or her idiosyncrasies and immoral behavior with the same honesty as that of claiming ownership of acts of kindness.

Before you is the unflinching chronicle of my dear father, Johannes Manningfield, his brothers, and their spouses begun at the prime of their lives and pieced together (with some necessary filler) from various sources, including letters, diaries, interviews, and family accounts.

I attest that all I have written is the truth, and that I have recounted the details to the best of my ability as it played out at the time. The rumors and gossip surrounding the Manningfield brothers has for so long intrigued the people of our little village, that it is now time to let the lies fall away and the truth be heralded. Let the infamies of those most relevant to the story be revealed. Let the angst and confusion, triumphs and loses, and anger and joy they shared enrich or disgust as they may.

With my last bit of courage, I introduce the saga of The Manningfields.

Kate Manningfield
March 22, 1820