"A compelling novel set in 1869 Virginia... fast-paced and engrossing.... Once started, this is a book readers will not want to put down, but they will also want to read it a second time." - Historical Novel Society In 1869 Virginia, three women mourning a little girl turn for comfort to Louis, a granite quarry foreman and Union veteran. Louis falls in love with the child's aunt, and his employer, but she is married, virtuous - unattainable. Seeking means to wed elsewhere, he brings a law suit against a cousin who ruined his father. The suit stirs up dead causes and deadly chicanery, while his relations with the mother and sister of the girl child grow dangerously intimate. Rooted in the beloved homeland whose cause he fought against with all his heart, Louis yearns for a woman who cannot be his and for a life that war and time have forever undone. "He survived the war to save the nation, now he must survive its Reconstruction ... and his own inner war.... An intriguing historical romance set in Reconstruction Virginia. Flawless revelation of that time and place." < five stars > - Ron Andre, A Matter of Fancy "Tears and applause for a breathtaking work of literary fiction!" < five stars >