Virtually nothing is known about Sarah Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's older sister. This novel follows the few known facts of the Lincoln family's early life, starting with the Lincolns' move from Kentucky to Indiana when Sarah was nine through their years living in a log cabin, the death of Sarah and Abe's mother when Sarah was eleven and Sarah's new responsibilities as woman of the cabin, culminate with the arrival of a stepmother a year later. The details of Sarah's character have been invented, but this novel provides real insight into Abraham Lincoln's childhood, as well as the role of women on the frontier.

When they are forced off their land in Kentucky in 1816, nine-year-old Sarah Lincoln, known as Sally, and her family, including her younger brother Abe, move to the Indiana frontier.