A tale of two families, early settlers on the east Coast that came from England and Ireland. The Halston's weren't happy or Simon wasn't because of the other overbearing settlers. Simon decided to go in search of a better land. The Odomyers family wanted to go too. Simon let them go but he would be the leader. Therewas much hardship and deaths along the way and it was caused mostly by cheating ways. At last after several years of trials and hardships and Simon's only off springs being wed, Simon settled on a mountain that would change their name. The mountain was called Hall's Mountain and it was self sufficient. The story covers four generations of Halls and they were all a success in their own rights. The old cabins of Simon's Mountain still stands with a new road to them and a picnic shelter. Simon's Apple Trees still bear fruit just as all of his offspring are doing. Simon would be proud of them. The clearing in the forest isn't just about a place where Katy Sue took her lover's rods up in her love mound. The Clearing in the Forest meant much more than that to each one in this book, from Simon all the way to his last ancestors each one knew that out there was something they were seeking, they couldn't see it but they knew they would find the clearing in the forest some day and it would be bright and wonderful.