Wired Love

Before internet chat rooms, Facebook, or OkCupid there was ? the telegraph. In this 19th-century bestseller, two young telegraph operators meet "e;over the wire"e; and begin a romance, sight unseen, using Morse code as their secret language of love. Written in a remarkably modern voice, this charming tale offers both an authentic glimpse of Victorian society and a prescient view of online friendships. Nattie, known as "e;N,"e; has no idea at first whether "e;C"e; is a man or a woman. While she becomes increasingly interested in her correspondent, she finds plenty to occupy herself with among the other young people at her boarding house ? Cyn, the singer; Jo, an artist; and awkward Quimby, who has a crush on Nattie. But her thoughts always return to her invisible friend. If only, she thinks, they could have "e;something to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other and pine for a sound of  'that beloved voice,' they will only have to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy."e; Readers will delight in the similarities and differences between courtship in the 1880s and modern romance.