Hardcover, no dustcover, book club edition, printed 1945. Heartwood, as its title implies, strikes to the very core of American life. From it you will get a deeper understanding and a keener appreciation of the honest, warm people who are the heart of America. It is the story of Sammy Crocker, who felt that there was more to life than he could find in the wild backwoods of the Vermont hills where he was born and brought up. First of all Sammy craved education, and he knew he could not get it where he was. It meant going down to live in the village with his Aunt Seba - and that took courage. The handsome mountain youth was shy and awkward. He felt strangely out of place in the civilized, placid atmosphere of the village. It was hard at first, but it was not long before Sammy found that he had made a real place for himself there. Always, however, he was torn between his loyalty to the mountain folk and his love and respect for his new friends in the village. The conflict was made all the more acute because Sammy had fallen hopelessly in love with Dorothy White, the daughter of the village minister. She represented everything for which Sammy had ever yearned. But Sammy was proud - he could not ask her to understand his obligations to the mountain people; he felt that the gap between them was too wide to be bridged. So it took time for things to work out for them. Fortunately, their love was of such beauty and strength it was inevitable that sometime, somehow, it should be fulfilled. There is humor and deep wisdom in the story of Sammy Crocker's courageous fight to build the kind of life he had always dreamed about. Written with warmth and insight, Heartwood is a compelling picture of the kind of people America is proud of.