Synopsis
Four novellas are linked by the family they portray, and the women who sew--each novella named for the stitch its heroine favors. Deborah finds herself arrived in No Mans Land only to find that her fiancée has been killed. Rescued by Lou Stafford, she eventually proves that she is more than just a prissy Easterner. Parson Trent Blackwell, a circuit rider, enters the picture after adopting two orphan boys who need a mother, which Lou, a Tom boy, finds herself interested in becoming. Rachel Donovan impersonates a boy to journey through No Mans Land, which surprises and outrages Josh, the family tease, and, finally, Hope, who seems hopeless, plans an Independence Day celebration with Sam, who resents their families attempts to foist her off on him. The setting, the small community Petunia, is enlivened by such characters as the store owner, who mourns his dead pig, Petunia, the Testaments, who like to carry off the women they claim, and Grandma Stafford, the matriarch of the family.
