The Hills of Refuge

In this classic novel from acclaimed author William N. Harden, the lives of a simple but honorable family of farmers are turned upside down by unforeseeable events. Will they be able to reclaim their way of life? Fans of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath will surely appreciate The Hills of Refuge. Excerpt from The Hills of Refuge The house, a three-story red-brick residence, was on Walnut Street, near Beacon. Its narrow front faced the state Capitol with its gold-sheeted dome; from its stoop one could look down on the Common and, from the corner of the street, see the Public Gardens. It was a Sunday morning and the Browne family were at breakfast in the dining-room in the rear of the first floor, just back of the drawing-room. The two rooms were separated by folding-doors painted white, as was the wainscoting of the dining-room. There was a wide bay window at the end, the sashes of which were up, and the spring air and sunshine came in, feeding the plants which stood in pots on the sill. William Browne, the head of the family, a banker of middle age, slender, sallow of complexion, partially bald, and of a nervous temperament, his mustache and hair touched with gray, sat reading the Transcript of the evening before. Opposite to him sat his wife, Celeste, a delicate woman somewhat under thirty years of age.