ÒEedlieÓ they called her when she was a girl, because her little brother couldnÕt get his tongue around ÒMercedes.Ó Far Above Rubies tells the story of two families: of EedlieÕs girlhood in the early years of the twentieth century, and of MercedesÕ womanhood and marriage, through the Depression and the Second World War. From the rolling hills of the Genesee River Valley of upstate New York, to the flat hostile landscape rimming the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Orleans County, MercedesÕ life unfolds. Experience her trials as a youngster growing up with an indulgent Pa and a firm-minded Ma, the middle child of a large family. Read of her triumphs as Mercedes and her husband, with their own houseful of youngsters, weather the hardships they encounter while managing a dairy farm. This is the true story of the author's maternal grandmother.