Amazon.com description: Product Description: The year was 1865, the Civil War had ended and there was poverty in the South. It was a time when the going was tough, but the tough got going. Martha and Lou, two sisters in the small Southern town of Ashland, fall in love with two young soldiers who had fought the war. Where the Meadowlark Sings is the story of these two sisters, their lives, hopes and despair. When Lou moves up to the North, after marriage, the sisters promise to stay in touch. Neither of the girls realizes it, but this promise will be kept, and their families remain close for three generations and more. Alice H. Bowman creates a world that is now in the past, and a way of life that will be unfamiliar to many. It is a story of strong family ties, and the undeniable feelings of love that engulf the body and soul.