Abbie Deal, the matriarch of a pioneer Nebraska family, has died at the beginning of A White Bird Flying, leaving her china and heavy furniture to others and to her granddaughter Laura the secret of her dream of finer things. Grandma Deal's literary aspirations had been thwarted by the hard circumstances of her life, but Laura vows that nothing, no one, will deter her from a successful writing career. Childhood passes, and the more she repeats her vow the more life intervenes.

"Miss Aldrich has recreated the spirit of the descendants of the early Scotch and German settlers of the great Nebraskan plains, the spirit of healthy morality and calm contentment that is characteristic of these people."—New York Times

"A delightful story. . .well told and in an excellent setting."--Catholic World. "The main things, aside from the fact that this is a good story well told, is that it. . .puts one into the mood of courage and contentment and gives one renewed faith in the fine old simplicities of life."—Christian Century