After our nation slogged its way through the great depression came an era identified with bobby sox, charm bracelets, crooners and front windows proudly displaying service flags. the citizens of king’s mills gave their patriotic all to the war effort while they prayed for peace. hope royer had been a surprise to her almost middle-aged parents who were barely surviving the depression, but she was nevertheless happily welcomed by them and her older siblings. world war ii called hope’s adored brother ted from the senior class. by the time she was almost into her teens and had become a graceful and slender beauty, david bonner entered her life and the pair became inseparable. when the two of them weren’t playing croquet, they shared cokes at the local drugstore or sang songs they had learned at their summer camps and kept hope’s porch swing creaking through heavenly summer evenings. as hope neared her 13th birthday, her bliss was shattered by major blows: david’s father was transferred out of state and the death of the royers’ beloved landlady forced the sale of the only home hope had ever known. could she find a way to cope and go on?