A book of short stories containing ten mostly ballad-like tales that recount events occurring over a wide stretch of time – from the early decades of our age all the way to the 1970’s. The common theme that unites the ten stories, which were composed as a unity from the very beginning, is suggested by the opening quotation from Zeyer’s J. M. Plojhar: “I know her: she is not bad, but people who are moderately good can also be very tough.”