First published 2013
Jerene Jarvis Johnston stands in her Charlotte mansion, surveying the wreckage of Southern high society. Her husband Duke, once a promising politician and descendant of a Confederate general, now spends his days as a Civil War reenactor. Her brother Gaston writes bestselling historical novels but cannot start his dream literary project. Her sister Dillard hides from the world after poor life choices. Jerene's four children create fresh disasters daily. Annie makes reckless marriages while building her real estate empire. Bo battles his own congregation from the pulpit. Joshua stumbles through gay misadventures. Jerilyn struggles with her debutante duties despite deep damage. Old Southern money collides with new banking wealth in Charlotte's changing social landscape. Family secrets threaten to surface while the Johnston fortune dwindles. Jerene must protect Duke's fragile honor, preserve their legacy at the Mint Museum, and somehow corral her wayward family. She refuses to surrender what generations built, but her relatives seem determined to destroy everything she fights to save.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-saga, generational-conflict
Setting: Charlotte, Mint Museum
Period: 21st Century
361 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press