Lillian Carter was one of the most loved and admired women in the country. Mother of a president, she was a strong, resolutely independent woman with a mind of her own, determined to bypass the barriers of age and sex.

In these letters to her daughter Gloria that she wrote during her two-year stay in India as a Peace Corps volunteer, we hear the voice of a courageous woman with a sense of humor and an abiding integrity as well as curiosity, who welcomed new customs and fresh faces. Mrs. Carter discovers a determination that brings her peace within herself. And her readers take a daily walk with an extraordinary woman.

Mrs. Carter’s letters reveal the ideals, commitment, and emotions of that early generation of Peace Corps volunteers. They are a powerful demonstration of why Jimmy Carter acknowledges the inspiration he drew from his mother, to follow her example.