Mature beyond her years, Clarinda Darningbush marries blue-eyed, banjo-picking Rufus McCloud at the age of 14. During the Great Depression, the mountains tremble as the blighted chestnut trees crash like thunder-and Rufus, a sawmill man, dies too. After her husband dies, Clarinda's strong character and deep love for her children manifest as she fights for her family's survival. Of the seventeen children she bore, eleven still lived at home ranging in age from eleven months to seventeen years. Clarinda battles the grim reaper when the cabin catches fire at midnight during a blizzard. She hooks rag rugs and trades them for children's secondhand clothes. She works the harvest fields, accepting corn as payment for her labor. With a shield of faith and fortitude and God-given wisdom her spirit conquers every trial. Clarinda's sacrifices are praiseworthy and her heart-warming family stories, some funny, some poignant, must be told.
