?CHILDHOOD SUMMERS ON THE ST. CROIX RIVER IN MINNESOTA. Alan Emmet is looked after by a flinty trio of strong-minded women, almost as if she had three mothers. Her imagination is fired by their tales of pioneering ancestors, including the great-grandmother who hid her children in the asparagus patch when Indians invaded their lonely prairie dwelling.
Emmets favorite aunt scoffs at convention, reads poetry to her, and makes all the cousins lie naked in the sun each day. Another aunt introduces her to jazz and fancy cars. Daredevil Uncle Archie lives to fish and travels the world but cant hold...