In this book, the author draws a portrait of Harriet Beecher Stowe that differs considerably from the familiar stereotype. He evaluates sympathetically and deftly her literary output, and has revealing things to say about Uncle Tom's Cabin. But this is first of all a book about Mrs. Stowe's inner struggles and her family life. She was a profoundly religious woman, but she was also a religious rebel who rejected Calvinism in favor of a more personal relationship to Jesus Christ. Her family life was a central and influential factor in her personality, and this book examines her relationships with her father, Lyman Beecher, her brother, the famous Henry Ward Beecher, and her husband, Calvin Stowe.