Stripped of all pretense by harsh elements in both nature and neighbors, Julie grows before our eyes into a heroine able to sustain and enrich her marriage and her faith through humility, simple grace and plain old hard work. More than a journal of one individual's coming of age, this time exposure of a young Appalachian couple in hard times accomplishes several important things. The reader is reminded of those elements that are truly essential: family, friends, and faith, and of the self-sacrifice and determination it takes to meet life's demands head on with honesty and willing labor. The narrator matures before our eyes, leaning on the support of her loving childhood family, now distant, and her almost prideful willingness to take on any necessary task, no matter how difficult. Facing flood, hunger, a threatening drunk, and decisions they have no preparation for, these newleweds discover what it means to love and why it is the most meaningful thing in this life. I read this book years ago but it still remains in my mind. A great story.