Eschewed by her wealthy Smith College classmates, a former scholarship student reluctantly volunteers to join a group of graduates who travel to Europe to help World War I French civilians before finding herself surrounded by desperate families in villages decimated by German bombs.

A group of young women from Smith College risk their lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel based on a true story. Betsy Rutherford is looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine and Kate Moran reluctantly agrees at the behest of her best friend. Four months later, Kate and seventeen others set sail for France, but the region is in complete disarray. With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and truly be a band of sisters?

"It's February, 1852, and all around Chicago, Maggie sees postings soliciting 'eligible women' to travel to the gold mines of Goosetown. A young seamstress with a small daughter, she has nothing to lose. She joins forty-three other women and two pious reverends on the dangerous 2,000-mile journey west. None are prepared for the hardships they face on the trek or for the strengths they didn't know they possessed. Maggie discovers she's not the only one looking to leave dark secrets behind. And when her past catches up with her, it becomes clear a band of sisters will do whatever it takes to protect one of their own"--Provided by publisher.

"From the bestselling author of Prayers for Sale, an inspiring celebration of sisterhood on the perilous Overland Trail "If you are an adventuresome young woman of high moral character and fine health, are you willing to travel to California in search of a good husband?" It's February, 1852, and all around Chicago, Maggie sees the postings soliciting "eligible women" to travel to the gold mines of Goosetown. A young seamstress with a small daughter and several painful secrets, she has nothing to lose. So she joins forty-three other women and two pious reverends on the dangerous 2,000-mile journey west. None of them are prepared for the hardships they face on the trek through the high plains, mountains, and deserts, or for the triumphs of finding strengths they did not know they possessed. And not all will make it. As Maggie gets to know the other women, she soon discovers that she's not the only one looking to leave dark secrets behind. And when her past catches up with her, it becomes clear a band of sisters will do whatever it takes to protect one of their own"--