by Ruth Shults

Ruth Wilma Reif was born in a difficult year--1930--in Northern New Jersey. Her father was a successful builder and her parents enjoyed a comfortable life living in the homes that he built. But the Great Depression changed the destiny of this family of three and in 1935, at age 4, little Ruth began a crucial 19-year period during which the rich history of the places she lived became integral to her upbringing. Moonlight Over the Canal is an engaging, fast-paced, vivid memoiric history that tells the tales of two houses--one in Montville, one in Boonton, both in Morris County. In doing so, it lays bare the heart of a little girl and young woman and, through her fascinations, opened windows on events and people in national and regional history from the American Revolution through World War II. The setting is perfect for such storytelling because of Morris County's unique and abundant historical significance, due in no small measure to its location between Philadelphia and Manhattan. A region settled in the early eighteenth century because of its rich iron ore supply, it was the stage on which a major drama of American history was played out during the American Revolution. In 1779, it took three days for General George Washington's troops to pass in front of one of the homes Ruth spotlights on their way to Yorktown, Virginia. Later, in the nineteenth century, Morris County homes were important links in the chain of the Underground Railroad that delivered slaves to the free north. Because of the region's proximity to New York City, it became home to the famous Morris Canal, an important water route for the transport of goods and people before the age of the railroad. The canal ran behind the first house Ruth lived in and became a source of her adventures in both summer and winter. The houses in which Ruth lived had seen all these major occurrences and more, and the formative years she spent in them taught her about what passes from one generation to another. They also taught her why it is importance for each of us to understand that we are the temporary custodians of a vital life force that deserves contemplation, respect, and preservation. Moonlight Over the Canal is different from most local history books in that it is told in first person and so weaves the fabric of history with a personal, spiritual thread. The book chronicles Ruth's maturation from a child of four to a young lady of twenty-three.