Minnesota — JoAnn A. Grote

In 1877, the citizens of Chippewa Falls, Minnesota, are recovering from the devastation of a five-year grasshopper infestation. Throughout the years that follow, countless hardships, trials, and life-threatening dangers will plague the settlers as they struggle for survival amidst the harsh environs and crude conditions of the state's southwest plains. But Chippewa Falls' determined townsfolk, as well as the area's farmers and prairie dwellers, refuse to admit defeat on the edge of America's frontier. The community comes together - fighting the elements of the majestic Minnesota landscape to build a place for themselves and their families for generations to come. Against this challenging backdrop and across the span of the next two decades, four young women - Laurina, Millicent, Pearl, and Amy - each find a faith that sustains them in the tough, uncertain times...a joy that surpasses all understanding..and the love of a man that compels them to stay.