In 1843, newlyweds Nathan and Mary Kingsley envision a good life in their new house in the pioneer community of Livonia, Michigan--until a runaway slave on the Underground Railroad takes refuge in their cellar, and Mary must make a desperate attempt to save her wounded husband and the slave from hunters who are pursuing them.
Drawing on her own family history, Arliss Ryan has written a classic American tale: the richly imagined story of five generations--from Nathan's son Horace, a born schemer who is all too ready to sacrifice his birthright; to Emma, who helps maintain the family through a heartbreaking diphtheria epidemic; to Nathan's great-great-granddaughter Laura, who falls in love with a daredevil pilot. By the time the wilderness where Nathan built his home has grown into a suburb of Detroit, the Kingsley House has seen wicked deeds, a summer of lost childhood, a suicide, and a chance to fall in love a second time.
Arliss Ryan vividly brings over one hundred years of American history to life through the unforgettable story of a simple family house--and the generations whose lives passed within its walls.
Originally published in 2000 by St. Martin's Press, this is the 2012 electronic version of the original novel.

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