Swept up in the great drama as the infant Church expands and spreads westward into Ohio and Missouri, the Steeds become eyewitnesses of miracles as well as of the horrors of mob mayhem. Nathan and Lydia begin their married life, meeting new challenges and facing crises that test both their faith and their love; Mary Ann struggles with her feelings over her husband Benjamin's continued lack of spiritual response to the Restoration message; Jessica Steed, distraught by her apparent inability to have children, watches helpless as Joshua's bitter and destructive nature threatens to explode into violence. This book will surprise and intrigue many listeners with the little-known true events it depicts and the involvement in them of well-known Latterday Saints like Joesph and Emma Smith, Lucy Mack Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Brigham Young, Mary Elizabeth Rollins, and others.

Author Gerald N. Lund first provides a solid historical basis, then weaves into it believable fictional characters as he portrays the tragedies and triumphs experienced in the early days of the restored Church. Through the Steed family, the author typifies the faith, the determination, the Spirit that burned like a fire in the hearts of early Latterday Saints.