"In 1910 Elinore Randall, a widow, and her seven-year-old daughter travel by train to face two great unknowns-- a strange land and life with a man they have never met. Elinore has contracted by mail to keep house for Clyde Stewart, a rancher living in the remote frontier near Burntfork, Wyoming. Captivated by the vast landscape, Elinore acts quickly on her secret passion: to homestead a piece of land of her own. But fulfilling her year's contract with Clyde may be as challenging as the oncoming winter-- a winter of devastating blizzards, famine and isolation."--Container.