A collection of short stories, these celebrate old and young love in frontier life and offer tough to tender episodes. Here are the women, whose realism withstands the ordeals attendant on homesteading and whose belief in their men surpasses the constant threats of failure; here are the men, desperate for their independence and security -- and here are their romances. A first winter in the wilderness, a first love replaced by a second, courage in the empty solitude, a man's worry about his family, a father's farewell to his daughter, a long, turbulent marriage, a man's integrity winning him his wish... There's a sturdy, forthright appeal here -- for women as well as men.