This is another in the Elm Creek Quilts series that I'm thoroughly enjoying, and it gives the story of neighbours of Elm Creek before Elm Creek became the family farm of the Bergstroms and the present-day owner, Sylvia. Dorothea and her parents live by the good graces of her uncle on his farm, having lost their own (communal) farm to flooding. They find the uncle demanding and judgmental, but there will be nothing for Dorothea's brother Jonathan to inherit if they don't suffer in silence.

This is all packaged within the history of escaping slaves and the Underground Railway, and there are some excellent scenes in this regard. There is also a burgeoning love story (for which readers of the series will already know the ending, and which, by dint of it being a copy (so other reviewers tell me) of [b:Pride and Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320399351s/1885.jpg|3060926] is extremely predictable) within a nice bit of character development for Dorothea.