Cheney Duvall, M.D

Dr. Cheney Duvall, finding all doors closed to female physicians in 1865, answers a friend's plea to set up a practice in the primitive wilderness of Wolf County, Arkansas, but she finds herself as equally unwelcome in the mountain community as she was in Philadelphia society.

Dr. Cheney Duvall sets out for New Orleans but is diverted in Charleston, South Carolina, by the plight of the war-torn city, and her friend Shiloh's search for his past.

"From New Orleans to San Francisco, Cheney and Shiloh are now working at a large hospital - a contrast from their previous circumstances. Though Cheney is accepted and respected by most of the other doctors, the medical personnel under her supervision question her character, her intent, and her skills. Further, she and Shiloh must constantly be on alert to ensure that fair and conscientious medical treatment is provided to the city's down-and-outers....

Shiloh proposes to Cheney. Cheney's answer, however, can only be a refusal. Shiloh is not a believer, and he grows bitter over her rejection. Cheney, meanwhile, is devastated that she has allowed herself to fall so fully in love with him. The two are "wavering, driven with the wind." When they arrive in New York, the couple discovers that close friends are having second thoughts about their own marriage. Like Cheney and Shiloh, they struggle to solve...