Trelga Dale, growing up a century ago in the foothills of Colorado mountains, has been encumbered with care for most of her seventeen years. As the eldest of eight children, she is the mainstay of her family's survival on their small homestead farm. Even so, Trelga has kept her cherished dreams. At the center of her fondest hopes is Walter Waine, her sweetheart from log schoolhouse days and a talented musician. But when Goldie Mardew, a sophisticated city girl, comes to visit Walter's family and lures him away to study at a music school in the east, Trelga begins to ponder some troubling questions: Will she see Walter again? If so, how will he have changed? Will a new Walter still love her, a simple country girl? What can she do to be worthy of him, to be educated and cultured, and at the same time, help her family? Her story is one of search and discovery, of heartache and forgiveness, and of love that ennobles and redeems. As the story unfolds amid rugged scenic beauty and a community of neighbors, family, and friends, Trelga gains confidence and strength, lives courageously, and loves deeply.