"It is February 1794, and while fiercely independent Elizabeth Bonner gives birth to twins, her husband, the frontiersman Nathaniel, learns that his father has been arrested in British Canada. Forced to leave Hidden Wolf Mountain to help his father, Nathaniel – known by the Mohawk as ‘Between-Two-Lives’ – is himself imprisoned and in danger of being hanged as an American spy. In a desperate bid to save her husband, Elizabeth bundles up her...

In 1812, Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner mark the return of Nathaniel's daughter Hannah, while her half-brother Daniel joins the militia and his twin, Lily, falls in love with a dark and dangerous stranger.

The spring of 1824 is a challenging one for the inhabitants of Paradise N.Y. when a flood devastates the village. But for Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bonner, it's also a time of reunion as their children return from far-off places: Lily and her husband from Italy, and Martha Kirby, the Bonners' ward, from Manhattan. Although Lily is nursing her own grief, it is Martha, fleeing a crushing humiliation, who brings with her trouble that will reverberate in...