In 1901, after three tumultuous years as a student nurse at Johns Hopkins Training School for Nurses and a relationship with a doctor who stole her heart, Rebecca Wagner returns to her family farm and the disappearance of virgin forests surrounding rural McAlisterville, Pennsylvania. However, everything she holds dear has changed. The hometown sweetheart she had promised to marry may have found someone new, and much of the forests in the Shade Mountains surrounding the farm have been stripped bare. Unwilling to succumb to her fears, she convinces the town doctor to hire her, and ingratiates herself into the hearts of people in the Juniata Valley. But it is her work in the dangerous and primitive lumber camps in the nearby mountains that test her skills and strength. Skills that require her to handle horrific accidents and illnesses that take away life and limb. Strength to travel by horseback through steep mountain terrain in oppressive heat and numbing cold, and stand up to hostile wood hicks who are clear-cutting the very mountains she loves. What hasn't changed is her desire to use native plants and trees for healing as taught by her mentor, a mysterious Indian woman who lives on the edge of the farm ever since Rebecca was born. Nor the harassment by a rogue lumbermill worker whose threats grow ever more serious. Ultimately, Rebecca must choose between her hometown sweetheart and the promise of a simple life in the country, or the doctor she left behind in Baltimore and the life of privilege he pledges to give her. However, the secrets she is hiding threaten to upend what she believes about herself, as well as everything she has worked so hard for―including her wish to be the healer she has always dreamed of being. "I was especially impressed with your explanation that the books discussed themes such as women's rights, race, class and social mobility, and other social justice issues. Also, I was already interested in the subject of trees. I have finished The Trees Inspire and have now started The Trees Endure. IMHO, the characters are realistic and well-developed, the settings and environment are thoroughly and beautifully described, and themes give depth. The plots are high-interest, with every chapter moving things forward, creating page-turner incentive for readers. Your descriptions of trees and other plants show your research and knowledge. As a life-long Pennsylvania resident, raised in northern Lancaster County and now a long-time Potter County resident, I can relate in many ways to the characters and stories you develop. I am enjoying your books, and I know my daughter will too. I wish you all the best!" W. Shirk Biography – Joyce Kieffer Joyce Kieffer is the author of The Trees Inspire and The Trees Endure―the first two volumes in a trilogy of historical novels set in the turn-of-the-twentieth-century virgin forests of Juniata County, Pennsylvania. The series tells the story of the heroine's odyssey from her small family farm in the forest foothills, to the John's Hopkins Training School for Nurses, and back to her forest homeland and its wild and dangerous lumber camps. Along the way, she uncovers her life purpose . . . and a few intriguing secrets that change her life forever. Although the novel is set nearly a century ago, Joyce addresses issues relevant to today: environmental; racial; socioeconomic; and gender. Superimposed on these themes are the lush, beautiful forests and the flora and fauna that call them home, the rich cultural stories of life in rural Pennsylvania where farming is a way of life, and the Native American wisdom and respect for the plants, soil, and water we all share. Joyce is also the author of To Have . . . To Hold, a Parent's Guide to Childbirth and Early Parenting with nearly a million copies sold in seven editions between 1979 and 2001. A pioneering champion of women's health throughout her 55-year career, Joyce began as a nursing instructor and discovered a passion for advocating for a mother's autonomy during childbirth. Joyce established one of the first organized childbirth classes offered in Pennsylvania in the 1960s, going on to empower thousands of parents to achieve positive birth experiences. She followed her passion for health education and prevention of disease by developing several health education and resource centers for women and their families, until retiring from her career in women's health in 2001. She then began a parish nursing practice, serving her congregation for several years while also contributing to a team of philanthropists establishing a tuition-free school for inner-city boys. After retiring from her "second career" where she worked with a cadre of nurses providing health screenings for businesses and the public, she retired for the second time at age 75 and once again picked up her author's pen to take on her lifelong dream of writing an historic novel. Drawing on her career in women's health and inspired by the forest