The Cameo Brooch is the fascinating story of the Moulton, Abbott, Hungerford, Nye family from colonial days well into the 20th century. The story line is based upon the life, loves, and adventures of Constance Hungerford Nye, her ancestors and offspring, as she wrote the story in collaboration with her mother, Alice Moulton Hungerford Nalder, in the early 1930's. The stories and vignettes of this larger family's journey through history is filled with accounts that are humorous, as when a young Dr. Robert Hungerford decides to drum up patients by running out of his office and riding out of town on his horse at full gallop to make towns folk think he's very important and busy with emergency calls, to the terrible sadness and struggles that come from early deaths of children and young parents. It's the journey of pioneers and missionaries and those who struggled against the evils of slavery. It highlights human foibles and strivings to find the moral high road. It leads us through a murder mystery, a potential lynching, and the challenges to children who must grow up in a hard scrabble world. And it reminds us that all the generations face essentially the same issues and life struggles.