This heart-warming book of true stories is about women who lived during four different centuries. It testifies to the strength of mind of women forced to cope with wars and illness while protecting and educating their children, and it shows how family members worked together as the British Empire spread. Margaret Rudston was caught up in the English Civil War. When her husband died, she had to fight in court to keep the family property. Margaret's solicitor gave her copies of poems by John Donne, which now reside in the Folger Library in Washington, D.C. Maria Barstow endured 20 years of wars.