Lily Fairchild is born in southern Ontario in 1840 and leads a life of constant struggle against the historical forces of her time: the coming of the railroads, the discovery of oil, the Riel Rebellions, the Great War and the influenza pandemic that followed. Three marriages and two children complicate her life and against all the odds she struggle and survives, always deciding on love whenever she can.

Don Gutteridge was born in Sarnia, Ontario Canada and raised in the nearby village of Point Edward. He graduated from Western University in Honours English and taught high school for seven years before joining Western's Faculty of Education. He taught English Methods there for twenty-five years, retiring as Professor Emeritus. He is the author of seventy books: poetry, fiction and scholarly works in educational theory and practice. His poetry collection "Coppermine" was short-listed for the 1973 Governor General's Award. He won the UWO President's medal in 1970 for the best periodical poem of that year. He lives in London, Ontario.