There was a thunderous crack. Lydia felt the ship shudder beneath her feet, and heard the buildings lining the wharf rattle. She jerked around so hard that the baby lurched within her, jabbing her sharply with pain. For a moment, she could only stare, not comprehending. The sound had come from the harbor's mouth. For a moment there was nothing to see, just the mass of ice blocking their way. Above and behind her she heard the captain shouting, “Every man to his post! To your posts!”
Then, to everyone's utter amazement, the ice jam began to crack. A seam of dark water began to open, piercing first the base, then the wall of ice. It was as if hell itself were being pried open to make way for them.

This is just one of the many exciting events depicted in this book, the second in the landmark multivolume series The Work and the Glory. Like a Fire Is Burning continues the epic story of the fictional Benjamin Steed family and covers their participation in the unfolding events of the Restoration from 1830-1836. Swept up in the great drama as the infant Church expands and spreads westward into Ohio and Missouri, the Steeds become eyewitnesses of miracles as well as of the horrors of mob mayhem. Nathan and Lydia begin their married life, meeting new challenges and facing crises that test both their faith and their love; Mary Ann struggles with her feelings over her husband Benjamin's continued lack of spiritual response to the Restoration message; Jessica Steed, distraught by her apparent inability to have children, watches helpless as Joshua's bitter and destructive nature threatens to explode into violence.

This book will surprise and intrigue many readers with the little-known true events it depicts and the involvement in them of well-known Latter-day Saints like Josph and Emma Smith, Lucy Mack Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Brigham Young, Mary Elizabeth Rollins, and others. Author Gerald N. Lund first provides a solid historical basis, then weaves into it believable fictional characters as he portrays the tragedies and triumphs experienced in the early days of the restored Church. Through the Steed family, the author typifies the faith, the determination, the Spirit that burned like a fire in the hearts of early Latter-day Saints.