"Dear Emily, Remember how I used to say that when I died, I wanted to be remembered as a godly woman? I almost gave that up this winter…" Writing letters home to her sister Emily is Hannah Zartman's lifeline. It's 1798, and Hannah's life no longer bears a speck of resemblance to the affluent city life she left behind to marry Georg, a Hessian mercenary turned colonist. Hannah can milk a cow, deliver piglets, churn butter, quilt and spin, and even shoot a bear should the need arise, as she tends the land and the daily needs of nine rambunctious children in a rustic Pennsylvania log cabin. But this year, harder things are pressing from every side, shaking Hannah's commitment to the harsh frontier life she has chosen and to the man she loves. As the Zartmans grieve an agonizing loss and await the birth of another mouth to feed, their farm is on the brink of financial disaster. And tough times have a way of exposing Hannah and Georg's shortcomings as marriage partners. When put to the test and tempted to run, can Hannah hold fast to her family and her faith? Pouring out her everyday cares through her pen, will she find the strength, not only to plow through the demands of life in early America, but to plant a family legacy that will forever testify to God's providence in the worst of times?
In her award-winning debut novel, Letters to Emily, Miriam Ilgenfritz stitches a heartwarming tapestry of early-American countryfolk and the faith traditions that shaped and sustained them.