After humiliation came the Star Tribune, then 1,789 potential happy endings

Loretta Ellsworth needs to be careful when she picks up the Minnesota Star Tribune because, when she does, there’s a decent chance what she reads will turn into a novel.

It’s happened to her twice already, with the latest being “The Jilted Countess,” inspired by the true story of a Hungarian who came to Minnesota in 1948 to marry the G.I. who had proposed to her overseas, only to learn he was already married. Needing to be wed before visa issues forced her to return to Europe, she met with Minneapolis Star writer Cedric Adams, who published a column that earned her 1,789 proposals, one of which she accepted before vanishing from public life.

Adams wrote several columns about her in the ‘40s, respecting her wishes not to use her real name or to follow up once she was married and had a baby. Ten years ago, Curt Brown wrote a column for this paper that revived the countess’ story, hoping she or someone who knew her (she’d have been in her 90s) would come forward.

No one did. But...

“A friend of mine sent me that column and said, ‘You should write this story,’” said Ellsworth, 71. The friend was Janet Graber, who is in Ellsworth’s writers’ group and who figured the historical romance would appeal to the Lakeville novelist, whose previous books include “The Winemaker’s Daughter,” about two women who are joined by the discovery of a rare bottle of wine that was hidden away during World War II.

So Ellsworth, whose 2007 “The Shrouding Woman” was also inspired by a Star Tribune article, began making like a detective.

She pored over microfiche at the Minnesota History Center, hoping to find countess details beyond what was in Adams’ handful of columns. No dice. She checked Hennepin County marriage records during the two-week period when the countess needed to marry a G. I. in order to stay in the U.S. under the Alien Fiancés Act of 1946. Nothing. She looked for Hungarian names in the public record in that time period. Nope. She reached out to the late Adams’ relatives to see if he passed along any secrets. Also a dead end.

Those question are answered in “Jilted Countess,” which finds the title character — her real name was never revealed but Adams dubbed her Illona and Ellsworth calls her Roza — settling in Red Wing with her war-haunted husband and starting a ballet school. While she learns to be a regular person, she continues to wonder about the fiancé who got away.

With real-life settings including Red Wing Pottery and the St. James Hotel, Ellsworth’s book captures the nostalgic rhythms of small-town, mid-century Minnesota life. For instance, there’s a scene of a “picnic” in a church basement to which Roza brings her disastrous attempt at an apple pie.

Trying to fit in, she instead feels like an outcast until a neighborly Red Winger shares her story of having to call the fire department when, newly married, she tried to bake something in a wicker basket. The woman steers Roza back to the picnic, telling her to chuckle as they enter the room, as if they’ve shared a joke about her awful pie.

The detail reveals a lot about neighbors and, it turns out, a lot about Ellsworth, who is 71 and endured a similar incident decades ago.

“That was me. I did that. We didn’t have to call the fire department but there was a lot of smoke. It was Easter and my family was there and they took pictures and now every Easter, they post pictures of that burnt Easter basket [surrounding a casserole],” said Ellsworth, who based another character on her great-aunt.

“Cedric Adams, or Cecil Anders — the Harper Collins [the book’s publisher] legal department said I should maybe rename him — tells Roza that even if you knew each other a long time when you got married, it’s always a big adjustment,“ said Ellsworth, who was especially drawn to the survival instincts of not just her title character but all Minnesotans recovering from the war.

”She had to give up everything and start over – I’m always struck by people who have to do that. Despite loss and grief and everything, they overcome that and find happiness," continued Ellsworth.

She received lots of help writing the book, from librarians, members of her writers’ group and even a native of Hungary who agreed to be an early reader-factchecker and who recommended that Ellsworth change several names to be more authentic.

In fact, Ellsworth will meet with a Hungarian American book club this month to discuss “The Jilted Countess” as part of her public relations push for the novel. After that’s done, perhaps she’ll have time to put her feet up, grab the Minnesota Star Tribune and figure out what novel she’s writing next.

The Jilted Countess

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 291 pages.