Lucy Fooshee has just married Bob Bybee, the second-richest farmer in the county if you don"t count the Winklejohns -- and who"d want a name like Winklejohn, anyway? Add her enviable hubby to the local beauty queen titles she"s won on account of her slim figure, full lips, and all-around good looks, and Lucy"s the most envied young woman in Palmyra, Illinois. The most admired by men, too. Funny thing, though: now that she"s married, no one even seems to notice anymore, and Lucy"s feeling irritable. So when Billy Lee -- a stranger with no prospects -- comes to town and sees her in a whole new way, he upsets Lucy"s applecart. Sure, she"s got everything anyone in Palmyra could want, but maybe that"s just not enough. With her striking humor and picture-perfect observations about life in a small town, Alison Clement tells the hilarious, lusty, and ultimately touching story of a fiercely independent woman trapped in the body of a small-town beauty queen.