CHARLOTTE – Author Catherine Metzger unveils a 1920s romance preserved in more than 700 letters discovered in her family’s attic.
“Malcolm and Ida: A Love Story in Letters” is an intimate chronicle of devotion, resilience and everyday life in the early 20th-century South.
When Malcolm Kyzer, principal of Cochran High School in Georgia, hired Ida Reynolds as a schoolteacher, he could never have predicted the turn his life would take. Their connection drew unwanted attention. With the disapproval of a superior, both suddenly found themselves without jobs. Before they went their separate ways in search of work, Malcolm and Ida made a promise to marry and began a long-distance courtship.
They wrote about the ordinary details of daily life as well as their deepest fears and dreams, revealing how love endured in an era shaped by strict societal norms and limited opportunities.
“Getting to know my grandparents as young adults was definitely an emotional discovery,” Metzger said.
Having never had the chance to meet her grandmother, Metzger explains that “these correspondences have now given her a place in my memory.”
Through the process of transcribing more than 700 letters, Metzger uncovered a story of two people deeply in love and shaped by the time they lived in. Among the most moving discoveries were letters intentionally saved for future grandchildren.
“When I read that moment of foreshadowing, leaving the letters for grandchildren she would never meet, I knew their story needed to be shared,” Metzger said.
Published by Warren Publishing, “Malcolm and Ida: A Love Story in Letters” can be ordered on warrenpublishing.net as well as bookshop.org, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
