There's only one way to be virtuous. Or is there?

In the two years since her mother's death, seventeen-year-old Hope Wagner has single-handedly raised and homeschooled her ten younger siblings while keeping her father's house. When her father marries the strange newcomer to their church, Hope is allowed to begin a courtship that will make her a helpmeet in her own right. Much to her surprise, her betrothed has a vision for their life that includes radical ideas like education, careers, and choosing how many children they want to have rather than leaving it up to God. For the first time Hope can imagine a different future than the one her father's planned for her, and she wants that future more than she's ever wanted anything else.

Jennifer Levine has always wanted a large, close-knit family that lives according to traditional values, just like all those families she reads about in her beloved historical novels. When Michael, a handsome, successful widower at her new church begins to court her, Jennifer believes she's found the life of her dreams. But Jennifer's new life is a nightmare of inadequacy and futility as she tries to embody her husband's idea of a virtuous woman, and she discovers the dark side of their conservative Christian sect. When Jennifer finally rejects Michael's authority over her, she launches the family into a crisis that threatens Hope's future and will change their lives forever.