I own a signed first edition of this fine tale. I found it as I cleaned out old books from my great aunt's house before it was sold. This exciting story really gives a great picture of life in the Carolina colony in the early days of European settlement. It has a great storyline,well told, a strong love interest, brave deeds of daring, serious villainy and natural disaster in an historically accurate framework. This was not the Crown Colony of Virginia, it was instead a land of opportunity for people trying to build a future and leave behind a past. If you are at all interested in pre-Revolutionary coastal North Carolina, this is a must read. It is worth looking for!