Thomas craftily turns her own family ancestry-dating from her grandfather's homesteading in the Florida Panhandle in the 1800s - into the real hard but rewarding life in the region centering on Santa Rosa County. Her characters are delicately sculpted from the realities of the time when pioneers drew their sustenance from the precious closeness of the land, and its many laborious hardships tested in their beliefs and faith in God and the Hereafter. She's crafted a touching love story and the evolution of a family, tracing the lives of Nate and Melissa York from their quick courtship, marriage, death of their first child, and building a home that serves as a haven for other youngsters once dogged by mistreatment by others. There are many layers of trouble and conflict involving other interesting characters flooding their wilderness lives. And in their travail - including building a homestead and a church, an illicit affair, revenge, murder on the Yellow River, a fire that nearly claims their lives - they grow toward as shared common religious faith that is the central theme of their human values.