Lyddie Berry lives on Cape Cod just before the Revolutionary War. Her husband Edward is a whaler, gone on fishing expeditions for months at a time. Lyddie is used to being in charge of her own life, keeping her home and household running smoothly and efficiently and used to being alone. She and her husband have a loving, mutual relationship.But when he is killed at sea, she finds that he has left her son-in-law in charge of her and all that she thought she owned. However, at that time women could not own property, so she inherits a widow's third of the homestead, and use of the cow. She has only one daughter, so her son-in-law, as the only male relative inherits the rest. She moves into her daughter's home, but chafes under the restrictions placed on her by her son-in-law.
When he finds a buyer for her home and insists she sign the deed, she rebels, and moves back into her third of the house. Her son-in-law makes her life a living hell, but she perseveres, and manages to keep her independence.
336 pages
