This is a book with a recurring theme running through it--how can you overcome the pain your father/parents caused you in your childhood? Eliza has just buried her father-in-law and must now contend with operating an orchard on her own. Gabe Harper is a hobo, who shows up to help in exchange for room & board. But, as in every good book, nothing is as it seems. Everyone in the book is hiding something, either intentionally, or not.I thought this book was very well written. The author did a good job of describing the beginning of the Depression and how being a single woman with 3 kids to raise got along. I loved the fact that after a secret was revealed, I could almost say "ah ha--NOW it makes sense." The clues are there, and the astute reader just has to connect the dots.