"John was born in Dolphinton, Scotland, December 21, 1788, a cold, cold Sunday. A hard freeze had set in across the country . . . and didn't lift until early the next year. The same bitter weather reached London, four hundred miles to the south, where it froze the river Thames thick enough to support the crowds that came out to enjoy a winter fair set up on the ice." So begins the story of John Borrowman, a ploughman, an immigrant, and, finally, a farmer. The author (and namesake of the main character) has taken an approach to writing that brings dimension to the life of someone about whom...