About Miriam

I am the mother of sixteen children and have written several books:
The Ties that Bind, a humorous look at life in a large family and Letters to Emily, an unconventional historical romance, both of which have won awards, and now Emily’s Story, the sequel to Letters to Emily, and I enjoy tending my ever expanding iris collection.

I have earned degrees in both cross-cultural communication and elementary education and live on a small farm in central Pennsylvania with my husband, my unmarried children and various farm friends including a small pack of basset hounds.

I am excited about writing good clean fiction for entertainment and am currently working on a cozy mystery trilogy.

When I am not digging in the dirt, reading or writing, I am usually ankle deep in laundry. And because I am a woman who writes, I have a cat to supervise my work.

What they are saying about my books:

click any book photo on this page or my books page to visit Amazon .

Letters To Emily

This homey story will delight your heart. Miriam Ilgenfritz vividly depicts the harshness of life in rural Pennsylvania in the 1700s, where times are challenging and emotions raw. Walk by Hannah’s side as she faces each new day with its joys, sorrows, and incredible challenges—from pig roasts to hog maws; from yellow fever to thunderstorms; from barn raisings to difficult births. In Letters to Emily, you’ll experience the daily life of the early settlers, feel their pain, share their sorrow, and rejoice in their victories. A heartwarming glimpse into another time and the struggles faced by one family.

—Sharon Dow, author of Antipas: Martyr and Pergamum: Satan’s Throne

Letters to Emily is the poignantly crafted debut novel of Miriam Ilgenfritz. With superb historical detail, she captures the realities and hardships of late 1700s in America. Deeply felt characters in an authentic rural setting when faith and family carved the beginnings of a great nation. To read this book is to experience the heart and soul of our heritage.

—Stan Bednarz, author of Miracle on Snowbird Lake

Letters to Emily is a heartwarming story of a woman struggling to adjust to marriage and frontier life. Hannah’s raw honesty with herself and her feelings about her husband will endear her to readers as they relate to the challenges life throws her way. Real life isn’t fairytale-perfect and without the grounding of faith as a compass, tragedy can send relationships spinning. Ilgenfritz grounds her characters in faith, yet keeps them brutally real.

—Tara Fairfield, licensed psychologist, speaker, and author of Makai Queen

Miriam has woven a beautiful, heartwarming, realistic picture of life, loss, and love in the late eighteenth century, proving that life may be different in the twenty-first but the feelings stirred through love and loss remain constant. She gives us a true sense of how complex, complicated, and yet rich marital love can be. Letters to Emily is a story to be shared.

—C. E. Hilbert, author of The Wooing of Jane Grey --

Emily's Story

Jeanette Durkin

4.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous characters and a happily ever after! I really enjoyed reading this book! I liked the setting of New York because I live in New York! The story is original and the characters are relatable and genuine! Yellow fever ravages the city, leaving Emily feeling cut off from her sisters. She experiences sudden losses that propel her toward maturity. There is a silver lining to the story! She meets a young man and they fall in love! She also makes new friends! The ending was perfect! I highly recommend this book!

Kara Marks

5.0 out of 5 stars
Touching historical story

This is such a charming book. Emily is a rather spoiled youngest daughter of a wealthy merchant in New York in 1798. She’s the only unmarried daughter and she especially misses her sister who ran off to get married, thus the letters she lives for from her sister. Emily has a suitor coming to call, but she’s known him all her life and isn’t excited at all at the thought of getting married to someone she doesn’t love. Yellow fever hits and she very much has to grow up and learn things that servants have done to keep the household running all of her life. It’s a sad time, but the historical aspects are so interesting and the story is absorbing. I would love to read more about this family; I can definitely recommend this touching book.

The Ties That Bind

Rae 4.0 out of 5 stars

A wife and a mother of 16 makes time to share warm, humorous, sometimes hair-raising times of raising kids in a rural acreage setting in Pennsylvania Amish country (she is not Amish). The author defines what entropy means. We get a road kill recipe! Along the way she shares her philosophy of bringing up kids, her celebration of life and her belief in God who provides. Photos of the family at work and at play enhance the book.

Tammy J Armagost

5.0 out of 5 stars
A great, entertaining read! This was a wonderful book. I laughed so often and the funny things that happened in this large family. Miriam writes in such a way as to make me feel like I REALLY do know her family. I recommend this book to anyone who loves children and are trying to raise godly children. What an encouragement!