In the year 1912, nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston leaves home to teach school in the Smoky Mountains. There she came to know and love the wild mountain people with their fierce pride, dark superstitions, their terrible poverty, and their yearning for beauty and truth. Christy found her faith severely challenged in these primitive surroundings; and confronted with two young men of unique strength and needs, she found her own growing yearnings challenged by love--From back of container.

Young Christy Huddleston begins a new life as a teacher at a mission school in the mountain hamlet of Cutter Gap. Through a preacher torn by doubt and a doctor whose wounded soul needs healing, she will grapple with the nature of love.

A young and dedicated school teacher goes to educate the children of a very rural Smokey Mountain community and learns to deal with their fierce pride and superstitions. She also must deal with two young men who have touched her heart.

The Smoky Mountain community of Cutter Gap feels suspended in time, trapped by poverty, superstitions, and traditions. Some see Christy and her one-room schoolhouse as a threat to their way of life. Her faith is challenged and her heart is torn between two men with conflicting views about how to care for the local families. Will Christy's determination and devotion be enough to make a difference?

Christy must decide whether to continue teaching in Cutter Gap, a poor mountain hamlet, or to return to her hometown where she would be more comfortable and safe.

"When Christy is offered a chance to teach in her hometown, she faces a difficult decision. Will her train ride back to Cutter Gap be a journey home or a last farewell? Suddenly, the train carrying Christy breaks from the track and plunges down the side of the mountain. In a moment of terror and danger, she must decide where her future lies"--Back cover