This a novel set in 1863 in the Susquehanna River towns of Columbia on the east side and Wrightsville on the west side of a bridge that connected the two. The main event at that time was the burning of that bridge to prevent a Confederate army from entering eastern Pennsylvania . Another main event in the area at that time was the active protection of escaped slaves in the Underground Railroad. Both of these causes are addressed in the novel. The author states: "The main characters of the novel are fictional , but they became involved with persons who actually lived during the period, as well as with incidents which have been recorded in our country's history, several of them indelibly."
