In Julie Harmon, a woman of strength, grace, and immeasurable courage, Robert Morgan has created one of the most admirable -- and unforgettable -- heroines in modern American literature.For seventeen-year-old Julie, life in the South Carolina backwoods is, in her plain words, "both simple and hard". Following the deaths of her younger brother and father, Julie takes one look at handsome young Hank Richards and falls in love. The couple's struggles with natural disasters, with the complexities of the changing century, and with the disappointments and triumphs of their first year of marriage are chronicled in this stark yet poignant novel. To survive, Julie and Hank must find out whether love can keep chaos and madness at bay.