After leaving her family home and respectable birthplace, Deborah Clark Vance set out to find what made the world tick. Inspired by Thoreau's advice to simplify, she explored self-sufficient living. She learned to identify edible plants and medicinal herbs, gaining confidence that she could survive in the wild as long as there was a woods and the weather wasn't too cold. She attended the University of Life where she learned to cherish those who prefer truth. She raised four children and cobbled together a living by selling paintings and freelance articles, copyediting and translating, selling plants and designing gardens, working on radio documentaries and a kids' TV program, teaching at an outpatient program and finally as a university professor after earning a PhD in Intercultural Communication at Howard University. Her family and friends near and far live with her in her heart. This is her first novel.