"The Hudson River Valley, 1769. A man mysteriously disappears without a trace, abandoning his wife and children on their farm at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. At first many believe that his wife, who has the reputation of being a scold, has driven her husband away, but as the strange circumstances of his disappearance circulate, a darker storyunfolds. And as the lines between myth and reality fade in the wilderness, and an American nation struggles to emerge, the lost man's wife embarks on a desperate journey to find the means to ensure her family's survival"--P. [4] of cover.