Veda Author:Ellen Gardner Coming of age during the Great Depression, the only things Veda has going for her are common sense, resilience, and a sense of humor. Poor, with little education, and afraid of ending up an old maid, she marries Raymond, the young man chosen by her mother. After years of struggling to keep her children fed, she gives up on him and marries again,... more » only to become entangled in an unresolved mystery, and then an untenable situation with a married man. Veda's story is like that of many women of her generation whose choices were dictated by poverty, patriarchy, and the necessities of just getting by.« less