In my opinion, Sayward Luckett Wheeler is one of the great American women characters. She became equal to anything in the difficult time period in which she lived: holding her family together, marrying, having children, building and educating. I have written more about her here:

http://womenandmountains.blogspot.com/search?q=sayward+luckett

Originally, I intended to read only "The Town" because it was the Pulitzer Fiction winner for 1951, but I discovered it was the third installment of a trilogy, so I decided to read the "set," and I am glad I did. Another reviewer compared The Awakening Land to Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series, and in a very simple way, it is similar primarily for the "cabin in the woods" setting, particularly in Volume I "The Trees." However, Richter's works go beyond the pioneer spirit which is the central theme of Sayward "Saird" Luckett Wheeler the main character of the three novels. The plot is an engaging weave of history, the "simple life of yesteryear" and the generational changes in family and societal attitudes. In this piece of fiction, as I have found in other Pulitzer fiction winners, although the subject matter and writing style may be quaint (or antiquated) basic human (American) attitudes and challenges haven't changed and the lessons to be learned remain the same. ( )

I call these "Little House on the Prarie" for grown-ups. I've read the series several times, and always feel as if I'm living back in the days when families traveled west into the American wildnerness to carve out their future. We trek with the family across the Ohio River to settle in the woods. Survival not only means finding food and battling the elements, overcoming the lonliness of the wildnerness. The books document the growth of community told the oldest daughter of the family, who is a child when the first book begins and a century old when they end. ( )