The story of Jacob and Emma in Apple in the Attic is based on the true story of a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer and his wife. But if Jacob and Emma come to life in this book, it is because I have met their prototypes a thousand times over in the market, at social gatherings, at the County Fair. If New England's Puritans have been the soul of America, then I think the Pennsylvania Dutch have been the heart of America. - Prologue.