Over the course of the Spring 2016 semester, the ART 322 Book Design & Publishing Course at the University of Maine Machias will take a manuscript of The House of Yorke, written by Mary Agnes Tincker in 1871 and turn it into a book. The manuscript was selected and prepared by English and Creative Writing students at the university.
From the manuscript Introduction:
The House of Yorke is an intriguing novel that blends history into fiction… Mary Agnes Tincker wrote the book in 1871 with the intent of drawing attention to the persecution of Catholics in Maine… The House of Yorke offers a rare picture of events that might otherwise have been forgotten. Though the main plot of the novel focuses on the struggles of its young, fictional heroine, Edith Yorke, the setting and side story of Father Rasle are closely based on… John Bapst, a priest who suffered at the hands of an anti-Catholic mob in Ellsworth, Maine… The book deals with issues that are still relevant today—religious intolerance and bigotry against immigrants and their ways of life. Read more…