Residing with her husband and four children on Carpenter Road prompted the author to search local historical records for the name, "Carpenter." She discovered the Carpenter family of 10 orphaned children who lived on the border of Northbridge and Sutton, and a story began to develop as she inter-wove historical records and imagination. It's 1828, and an orphaned family of 10 children in the Blackstone River Valley of Massachusetts and Rhode Island is struggling to survive. Their captivating story is told by 20-year-old Betsy Carpenter, the oldest daughter. Their farming community is changing rapidly as the Blackstone River canal project brings Irish workers; many families are moving "out West" (to Illinois); and farmers begin working in mills. All of these changes affect their stability and survival as a family. Neighbors, extended family, and their Christian faith, play important parts in their lives as they discover that life will be "Never the Same Again..."
