The women of Flyin’ West are facing many problems, ranging from the inevitability of long, cold winters and the possibility of domestic violence, to the continuing spectra of racial conflict. These women include Miss Leah, the old woman whose memories of slavery and its aftermath comprise a living oral history. Sophie Washington, whose determination to protect her land and those she loves puts to rest forever the requirement that western archetypes be white and male. Fannie Mae Dove, the gentle sister, trying to civilize the frontier with Fine China and roses, who finds herself falling in love with their soft-spoken neighbor, Will Parish. And Minnie Dove Charles, the headstrong baby sister whose mulatto husband, Frank, introduces a danger into the household that tests their sisterhood in unexpected ways.