"Set against the backdrop of the Civil War comes a tale of love lost and found ... Mary Thomson is no ordinary woman. She works alongside her husband William cutting firewood to sell in the city, earning herself the nickname 'The Woodcutter's Wife.' She kills a bear with her bare hands. And she prefers plowing a field to cooking a meal. The one thing she cannot seem to handle is the melancholy that has enveloped her. Mary lost four children before they were a year old, and the doctor says she will no longer be able to conceive. Mary's world flies apart when William disappears, leaving her with the arduous task of tending their farm by herself. Using her fierce independent spirit to cope as the war rages around her, she finds help in the form of a freed slave. But after fate throws her another dramatic curve, Mary is forced to make the most difficult choice of her life."-- From publisher's description.
