Hannah Turner could never have imagined that the squabbles of Boston merchants with England over tea and taxes would disturb her quiet, comfortable life in Philadelphia.

When British and Hessian soldiers occupy her native city in 1777, Hannah's world is turned upside down. Hannah's father, Jacob, a well-respected cabinet maker, is wounded, his shop is destroyed, and the family is forced to seek shelter with relatives in the Chester County countryside at a place called the Valley of the Forge.

General Washington's Continental Army settles into the same area for the coldest winter in many years, and the Turner family learns firsthand of the starvation, disease, and misery that war brings to a people and their land.

As the conflict continues, the Turners and their new friends the Grays find ways to aid the Patriot Cause that even General Washington could not have expected.

When the war moves to its conclusion in Virginia, Hannah's brother Nathaniel, and her betrothed, Matthew Taylor, find their skills tested at the Battle of Yorktown. One returns to Hannah on a litter, the other in a coffin. Was Liberty worth such a terrible price?