"Three generations of the Brown women travel west together on the Oregon Trail, but each seeks something different. When the trail divides, a decision must be made that could bring survival or tragedy. The challenges faced will form the character of one woman--and impact the future for many more."--

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Josephine Weatherly vows to rebuild her family's once-grand Virginia plantation. But her privileged life is now a daily struggle for survival, her father and brother are gone, her remaining brother has returned home broken by the war--and her mother's seemingly shared dream of rebuilding White Oak is one fueled by hatred. Lizzie, one of the few remaining servants, is all Josephine has for support--

Unable to deal with her problems, Amanda Starkey flees to her sister's farm, but when her sister drowns in a mysterious accident, Amanda is forced to take charge of her young niece, and she soon realizes that she has not left her problems behind, she has merely brought them with her.

It is the autumn of 1920 and Leah Breckenridge is desperate to find a way to provide for her young daughter. After losing her husband and infant son in an accident, she is angry at God and fearful about the future. Finding refuge in a boardinghouse run by her late husband's aunt, Leah's heart begins the slow process of mending. Is it the people who surround her--or perhaps this very house--that reach into her heart with healing? As Leah finds peace...

Eight-year-old Cassie Witting is upset when she finds out that her mother, Sarah, is expecting a baby, but writing in the journal that belonged to her brother Caleb helps her sort out her feelings and understand that Sarah will always love her.

"In 1911, Mabel MacGinnis is Europe's strongest woman and has performed beside her father in the Manzo Brothers Circus her entire life. But at his unexpected death, she loses everything she's ever known and sets off in the company of acrobat Jake Cunningham for America in hope of finding the mother she's just discovered is still alive. Isabella Moreau, the nation's most feted aerialist, has given everything to the circus. But age and injury now threaten...

Nineteen-year-old Clara Estby is hauled by her mother, Helga, on a 7,000-mile walk from Spokane, Wash., to New York in 1896. The fashion industry is looking for promotion of the new, shorter dress for women; Helga is looking for a cash prize to save the family farm from foreclosure ... and Clara dreams of becoming a businesswoman.

Inadvertently reunited with the daughter she secretly abandoned and the girl's Irish Catholic adoptive mother during the height of the Prohibition era, the adult daughter of a Jewish industrialist finds her life turned upside down by her daughter's bold and unconventional personality.

In 1861, war is raging in the South, but in Concord, Massachusetts, Margaret March has her own battles to fight. With her husband serving as an army chaplain, the comfort and security of Margaret's four daughters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, now rest on her shoulders alone. Money is tight and every month, her husband sends less and less of his salary with no explanation. Worst of all, Margaret harbors the secret that these financial hardships are largely...

Three women struggle against overwhelming odds to find freedom in the summer of 1964, and all three find their own path to independence, understanding, and peace, despite the obstacles fate throws at them.