Every family must deal with both good and bad, along with the surprises of life. In Ansley, a fictionalized memoir, author Philip Wigent explores these issues among the early generations of his family. Building a narrative based on old letters and documents and oral history, Wigent tells the story of his family's first three generations, sharing fifty years of family lore. Precipitated by an unwed pregnancy, two sisters-eighteen-year-old Emmaline and twenty-year-old Sarah Shipman-leave their comfortable home in Pennsylvania in 1860 and travel to rural Indiana, where they must start a new life. As the story evolves, it shows how one generation merges into the next, forging the future for each subsequent generation. Ross, Emmaline's grandson appears. Starting from his origins on the plains of Nebraska, Ansley follows him as he grows from a shy child to a teacher to a soldier on the fringes of World War I. Providing insight into family dynamics in the early years, Ansley shows the range of psychological and physical problems that plague both individuals and families across the spectrum. It offers a look at how things and people change and how they react to that change from generation to generation.