Born in South Dakota at a time when America was reeling from a dust bowl, depression and a second world war, Evelyn Jones Leite lived with Mamma, Edith Jones, a socialite who marries her Daddy, a broke but charming southerner, Lon Jones.

Unbeknown to her the Daddy she adores drinks a little too much, And his Jekyll and Hyde behavior breaks her heart often. 

At the age of 5, she moves from a log cabin on a hilltop deep in the woods where she hears mountain lions, to a small town where she lives by a Morgue and encounters her first sexual pervert there. 

The second world war has a huge impact on her family as they experience blackouts, poverty and rations. 

An often bedridden Mama, is a special challenge that forces Evelyn to help tend her younger brothers. She completely adores her older brother Ted even though he is often mean, she begs for attention in both subtle and overt ways. 

When she is 6 years old her Daddy gives away her precious dog and moves his family to a farm on orders from her mother’s wealthy father. 

On the farm, she experiences, neglect, a pedophiliac hired man, mind rape and, yet-there are big family happy times when relatives swarm the farm and bring mountains of food. 

Evelyn Leite’s true story of growing up in a turbulent family during the 40s and 50s compellingly captures the reader who is captivated by feeling the gamut of confusion and despair, sorrow and tears, then unexplainable hope and optimism.