A couple with five children decide to emigrate from Yorkshire, England to the American west. This narrative is written by the wife from her own viewpoint. It begins with the decision to leave England and describes the voyage to New Orleans followed by a riverboat trip up the Mississippi and their lives on their new farm. Her descriptions are fresh and realistic. Burlend neither glamorized nor glossed over the hardships. The result is a forthright and honest account of her experiences, with many details of life that are normally missed or skimmed over by male authors of similar memoirs.