Mavis

Mavis Schmidt Holmstead has smoothed every wrinkle, threaded every needle, and cooled every fever in a family of six sisters who grew up on a North Dakota farm. More than their patient, hardworking mother or their hard-drinking, unpredictable father, it was Mavis, the eldest, who was always the parent. Mavis checked their homework, set their hair for dates, and glowed with pride as their babies were born or their books were published. Her determination propelled her sisters into adulthood, though she could not have imagined how divergent their lives would turn out to be. Today Maxine, the…