In the year 1912. nineteen-year-old Christy Iluddleston leaves home to teach school in ihe Smoky Mouniains--and comes to know and love the resilient people of the region, with their fierce pride, their dark superstitions, their terrible l)overty. and their yearning for beauty and truth. But her faith will be severely challenged by trial and tragedy, by the needs and unique strengths of two remarkable young men, and I)y a heart torn between true love and unwavering devotion. And don't miss another heart-soaring bestseller from Catherine Marshall...

ON THAT NOVEMBER AFTERNOON when I first saw Cutter Gap, the crumbling chimney of Alice Henderson's cabin stood stark against the sky, blackened by the flames that had consumed the house. The encroaching field grass and duckweed and pennyroyal had all but obliterated even the outline of the foundations.

But the old mission house was still there, high on its rise of ground with the mountain towering behind it. Once painted a proud white, the building was gray and sagging, the front porch gone, the screening of the kitchen porch rusted and flapping. There were no other buildings left: the churchschoolhouse had long since been moved to another location; David Grantland's bunkhouse had been demolished.