The year was 1949 . and for those who called the Appalachian Mountains home, it would be a year filled with unforgettable events. Not only was it one of the hottest summers on record--which was cool compared to the upcoming sheriff's election--it was the year Ida Mae Duncan came of age. The restless daughter of a sharecropper, Ida Mae was in search of a more exciting way of life . she just kept looking in the wrong places.