Set in the Depression with many flashbacks to Nadine and Victor courting and marrying just before the WWI, this is a study in how families nurture and support each other-or belittle and destroy. Lots of guilt and pain yet book remains hopeful. Through their troubles, various characters remind each other to trust in God even if they don't understand what or why things are happening, and that He will fix things in his own time. The need to forgive and be forgiven is important theme. Little Lorena and her angel sister, Kate, are delightful characters.