Fervent Charity — Paulette Callen

Fervent Charity continues the story of the friendship of five women who have nothing in common but the ground they walk on and the vicissitudes of post-frontier prairie life.

Lena, a young mother living on the edge of heartbreak. Her sister-in-law, Mary, more beautiful than loved. Alvinia, midwife to the county and mother of ten. Gustie and Jordis, trying to make a home together but finding their place on either the reservation or in Charity precarious.

The women come together in the face of natural hardships -- childbirth, disastrous weather, and disease -- and the unnatural malevolence of people who mean them harm. In the end, they find themselves bound by a secret none of them could have predicted.