These days, we would call Belle Riley a self-made, independent woman. Tenacious and practical, Belle was orphaned at the age of four, reared in an abusive foster home, and taken under a moonshiner's wing when she was still a child. Through it all, her strong sense of self and determination to "be somebody" took her on a ride from dirt-poor to multi-millionaire. However, her journey was not without difficulties, some self-created, others instigated by the cruelness of others and the time. Set primarily in the area surrounding the Mississippi River in the 1800's, this piece of historical fiction is the freshmen novel of John Crane. Crane depends on his years of experience as a psychologist to weave a deeply emotional tale with rich, multi-faced characters that will draw you into their world and leave you unable to stop turning the pages.