A seventeen-year-old boy tries to establish his identity by evaluating the events and people that have influenced him in the past.

The year Almanzo Wilder turned nine (1866) was an important one for the young farm boy in northern New York state.

When Jack Kirkland travels to the Adirondack Mountains to investigate the death of a well-to-do engineer, he expects to uncover medical malpractice. Instead, he finds evidence of murder and falls in love with the only suspect, the dead man's girlfriend. Will Kirkland give up his chance at happiness to get at the truth? -- cover.