America in the early 1800s was a cultural blank canvas, a barren landscape awaiting texture in the form of learning, literature and the arts. Geraldine Priest creates this fictional historical memoir of Eliza Rupp, the embodiment of the many Americans striving to fill that void. The story of Eliza's family and her study of piano are interwoven with those of the leading literati, artists and educators of the day. Like so many of them, she journeys to Europe to further her studies and make her own cultural contribution to America's Barren Landscape.

America in the early 1800s was a cultural blank canvas, a barren landscape awaiting texture in the form of learning, literature and the arts. Geraldine Priest creates this fictional historical memoir of Eliza Rupp, the embodiment of the many Americans striving to fill that void. The story of Eliza's family and her study of piano are interwoven with those of the leading literati, artists and educators of the day. Like so many of them, she journeys to Europe to further her studies and make her own cultural contribution to America's Barren Landscape.