Book excerpt: 'Westways: A Village Chronicle' is a novel written by S. Weir Mitchell. The story follows the life of The Penhallows, who were a family with a long history of hard work and dangerous adventure. Many of the younger generations left home early to pursue different paths, such as joining the army or going to sea. One Penhallow prospered in the city and returned to the family's ancestral home in Pennsylvania, discovering iron and soft coal and building a large house known as "Penhallow's Folly." Eventually the family accepted the place as their home, renaming it "Grey Pine."