8Lion on the Hearth is the story of the King family, successful merchants in Great Depression-era Asheville, North Carolina, where trading, competing, and risk taking are necessary for survival, and where greed and lust for love and power tests the limits of a strong, ambitious family. First published by Harper & Row in 1961, Lion on the Hearth is chronologically the sixth book in John Ehle's seven-book Appalachian series that includes The Land Breakers, The Journey of August King, Time of Drums, The Road, The Winter People, and Last One Home.