Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

In the 1840's, eight-year-old heiress Elsie Dinsmore has only her Christian faith and the hope of love from the father she has never met to sustain her while living on a southern plantation with relatives who care little for her and disapprove of her strong religious principles.

During her tenth summer, Elsie is reunited with old friends, travels throughout New England, and introduces her father to the woman who will become her new mother.

As Elsie and Edward experience the joys of parenthood, the Civil War begins and ends, with terrible losses to their families.