This 19th-century novel follows the struggles of Laura Romeyn, a young woman left to care for her siblings after her father's death and the family's financial ruin. Faced with societal expectations and personal hardships, Laura must navigate a world that offers little help to women in her situation. Through perseverance and faith, she seeks to overcome the challenges that threaten to overwhelm her and her family. Edward Payson Roe (1838-1888) was an American novelist who served as a chaplain in the Civil War and wrote weekly letters the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals. In the 1870s, he began writing very popular novels. Their strong moral and religious purpose, and their being written by a clergyman, did much to break down a Puritan prejudice in America against works of fiction.