Conrad Richter-The Awakening Land

Conrad Richter-The Trees, The Fields, The Town
This is the Awakening Land Trilogy of Conrad Richter and I believe it is some of the best writing of the 20th Century. I never knew that his work existed until the 1980's when I happened to watch the miniseries starring Elizabeth Montgomery(remember Bewitched?) and fell in love with the story.

He captures the day to day life and problems of everyday people on the Ohio frontier with such richness, intensity and drama that to this day I still think about his characters. Memorable scenes from his books have had a profound influence my writing. He traces the evolution of an Ohio settlement from the early days of hardship in the wilderness, to the prosperous development of a town years later, a theme and evolution which is repeated time again across our entire continent. In 1951, he was awarded Pulitzer Prize for this work.