THE CHEST OF DRAWERS is the poignant account of pioneer life in the 1880's. Although the characters and the plot of this story are pure fiction, the time and the place are not. They are stark reality. Edgington's grandfather was one of a small group of Swedes who settled in northern Maine. They were pioneers. They cut down the trees. They built log cabins. They plowed the land and they planted potatoes. Life was hard in Aroostook County. When Edgington researched their story, she uncovered an overwhelming picture of deprivation and hardship. But the settlers were a hardy stock. They survived. Some flourished. All had a story that needed to be told. This is Matilda's.