Edge of Heaven depicts stories that were heard from the real Lucy Davenport Carpenter. Edge of Heaven is a spirited account of family life in western North Carolina at the turn of the century. In the late 1890s, rural life was often threatened by illness, poverty, and violence, but was softened by the love of family and the surrounding beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains. This 15-year anniversary edition recaptures the magic readers felt by McCall's imagination that brilliantly incorporates fact with fiction.