Tree of Freedom

The novel tells the story of the Venable family, Jonathan, Bertha, and their five children, who in 1780 walk from North Carolina to Kentucky to homestead on 400 acres. There, they build a cabin, plant crops, and raise livestock; 13-year-old Stephanie grows an apple tree, which she calls her "tree of freedom". They are dismayed when they discover there is a rival claim to their land made by a British sympathizer. As the war comes closer, Indian raids increase, Jonathan becomes a courier for the Governor of Virginia, and Stephanie's older brother Noel joins an expedition against the Indians with George Rogers Clark.

The New York Times called the story's setting "especially interesting" as it is "a phase rarely dealt with in our many excellent narratives of early America".^[3]