Nicholson lived and traveled extensively in Indiana and it was a rich resource for his writing. The House of a Thousand Candles provides readers with the view of an outsider coming to Indiana. The book begins: Pickering's letter bringing news of my grandfather's death found me at Naples early in October. John Marshall Glenarm had died in June. He had left a will which gave me his property conditionally, Pickering wrote, and it was necessary for me to return immediately to qualify as legatee.
