A Journey from Boyhood Innocence to War-Weary Self-Understanding and Hope. Farm boy Waldo Potter strives to save his father's impoverished upstate New York acreage as drums of war beat in this epic tale of heroism, sacrifice, and family devotion. When his Uncle Charles takes him under his wing, Waldo must navigate family resentments and tragic twists of fate at home and at the seat of war. By the Shores of Solon Pond captures the joys and hardships of rural life and is a tribute to America's rural heritage, but, most of all, it is a tribute to one young man's sacrificial love for his family.