"The Amarantha stories chronicles one woman's life-long odyssey, from a young girl born to a poor Swedish immigrant family in Wisconsin, to a high school student struggling to come to grips with that family; then later, a college student learning the ways of the world and wanting to better herself, a middle-aged woman in a new world, struggling with her right to choose, and finally, an elderly woman, more like her mother 'Ma' than she ever imagined she'd be. Even at the end, Amarantha is still struggling, hoping to reconcile her past with what's left of her future"--Page 4 of cover