[Signed] [First Edition] Helen Dutton Russell Come in...

An unusually appealing association of Oklahoma historical fiction, family memory, pioneer folklore, and local publishing history, Russell's novel reconstructs the life of the fictional Hoyle family in northwestern Oklahoma during the territorial/homesteading era. Russell was unusually close to her material: born near Woodward in 1924, she grew up among people whose lives overlapped the pioneer generation and describes herself as having lived much of the same rural lifestyle. Her preface explains that the book grew from questions asked by her children and grandchildren and from information preserved by Oklahoma Territory pioneers, including her father-in-law, Rev. J. M. Russell. The dedication likewise names both her parents and in-laws as people who actually lived during the territorial period. This is therefore better understood as historical fiction rooted in family oral history and firsthand regional memory than as a conventional Western. On the interior of the dust jacket, there are two observed pieces of clear tape to the front top edge. The novel follows pioneer domestic life in considerable detail - farming, transportation, weather, courtship, religion, schooling, food preparation, community gatherings and family relationships - and concludes with the particularly interesting "Granny's Recipes" section beginning on p. 234. Recipes include corn cakes, sorghum gingerbread, fried green tomatoes, Granny's dumplings, vinegar taffy, Dutch honey and other traditional preparations, making the book additionally relevant to collectors of Oklahoma foodways and vernacular culinary history. Contemporary evidence shows that the book found a meaningful regional audience: an Oklahoma Library Association publication reported in 1984 that Evans Publications considered Come in This House one of its "big sellers." There are actually three Oklahoma stories in this book, not just Russell's novel. The first is Russell's preservation of pioneer family memory; the second is the tiny Perkins publisher that issued it; and the third is the jacket artist, Jack Allred - who deserves much more attention than an ordinary "illustrator" credit. The jacket itself states that Allred was an Oklahoma State University graduate and longtime Stillwater resident who studied with nationally known artists including Roger E. Wood, Sergei Bongart, Milford Zornes and others. More significantly, Oklahoma State University's museum records independently document him as OSU class of 1960, a student of Oklahoma artist Grace Hamilton, and an important participant in Stillwater's artistic and historic-preservation community. His work ranged from precise architectural studies of local landmarks to abstraction, and one of his paintings of Old Central was used for OSU Centennial stamps. The Stillwater Art Guild continued to list Allred as a watercolor artist decades later. There is another nice bit of contemporary context: Evans Publications was not simply a vanity imprint built around this title. By 1984 it was offering thirteen books, almost all concerning Oklahoma, including works on Pistol Pete, Oklahoma history and regional biography; Come in This House was specifically identified as one of the firm's leading sellers. Helen Dutton Russell (1924-2004) was born near Woodward, Oklahoma, daughter of A. N. and Leota Mason Dutton. Her jacket biography records a childhood on a farm near the former settlement of Perdue, schooling in rural Oklahoma, and graduation from Freedom High School in 1941. After Pearl Harbor she married Virgil Russell on January 2, 1942; while he served overseas, she worked as a riveter on Boeing B-29 aircraft in Wichita, a particularly interesting piece of World War II home-front history. After the war the Russells returned to ranch life and raised six children. Independent biographical material confirms that Helen died in 2004 and that Virgil, a Purple Heart veteran, continued living on land homesteaded by his parents until his death in 2011.

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