This is a novel intended to portray a strong moral message, especially to the Baptist community of the time in America. The author Amelia Johnson was in fact a black woman, but she concealed this identity in the hope that this would give her a wider readership. The story concerns a girl called Flora, the only Hazeley daughter, who at the age of five goes to live with her Aunt, Mrs Graham, who intends to offer her a better life than her own mother could or would.