Every man who meets Fleda from the time she is eleven loves her, but she loves only Carleton, whom she converts to Christianity. The Rossiters lose their money and return to America, where Fleda farms, cooks, and makes maple sugar to support her family. Carleton is always there to provide assistance, but never speaks of love. Will the couple be united and find happiness?

This is Volume I of the book.

Susan Bogert Warner was an American author of religious fiction, children's fiction, and theologigical works. Writing as "Elizabeth Wetherall", she wrote over thirty novels. Her first, The Wide, Wide World, was most popular, and was translated into French, German, and Dutch. She also wrote with her younger sister Anna Bartlett Warner, and the sisters wrote Christian songs. The Warners could trace their ancestry to the Pilgims. Their father, Henry Warner, was a successful lawyer who lost most of his fortune in the Panic of 1837. The sisters turned to writing to earn money in 1849.