Spaulding's novel, The Purchase, is a barebones portrayl of frontier life in 1800 near the Virginia/Kentucky border. A well-meaning but inept Quaker, widowed and the father of five, struggles through out with his faith, his misfortune, and his own repeated bad choices. the resulting story is both gripping and yet depressing. it is a tale where both nature and nurture conspire to defeat many of the characters best efforts to succeed. readers of historical fiction will be pleased with the depth of accurate detail, and fiction readers will appreciate Spaulding's same gift for detail as she crafts her characters.