Although Julie got some unfavorable reviews elsewhere, I adored her. She was real, tough as nails, and sometimes quite lyrical like when describing her feelings for her new husband just after they married.

Hog slaughtering, yes, but not gruesomely. It was, after all, part of life then. And you see how their lives depend on getting things done and in a certain window of time. I struggled with Julie -- through thick and thin, mostly thin -- and yet I knew she would come out all right. She never let herself think otherwise.