A quintessential American heroine, Eliza Birdwell is a wonderful blend of would-be austerity, practicality, and gentle humor when it comes to keeping her faith and caring for her family and community. Her husband, Jess, shares Eliza's love of people and peaceful ways but, unlike Eliza, also displays a fondness for a fast horse and a lively tune. With their children, they must negotiate their way through a world that constantly confronts them-sometimes with candor, sometimes with violence-and tests the strength of their beliefs. Whether it's a gift parcel arriving on their doorstep or...

In thirty-six stories, West rings changes in time and presents a startling sweep of personalities and moods. Her themes span the breadth of experience, from the bite of misery to the balm of delight. Her achievement, taken totally, is a spectrum of living-a haunting, rewarding experience.

A dramatic, sweeping saga of life on the Indiana frontier in 1824, based on actual historical events. The Fall Creek Massacre was a unique occurrence-the first recorded instance of whites being formally charged with murder for killing Indians. Five whites were accused, tried by jury, convicted, and executed. West uses this historical record as the source for a fictional account of the events of the massacre and trial.

In a memoir filled with compassion and deep resolve, West celebrates the lives of three women-her strong Quaker mother, her beloved and courageous sister, and herself-and gives personal insight into her own battle to survive tuberculosis.

Elinore Pruitt, a widow and mother who washed clothes for a living in Denver, planned to work as a housekeeper for some rancher while learning all she would need to know about homesteading a place for herself. In 1909 she went to work for Clyde Stewart, whose ranch was near Burnt Fork, Wyoming, and within six weeks she married him. "Ranch work seemed to require that we be married first and do our sparking afterward," she wrote Juliet Coney, her former employer. She maintained her independence by filing on a quarter section adjacent to her husband's land and proving it up herself. Her...