First published 2021
Brothers Prentiss and Landry arrive at George and Isabelle Walker's farm seeking work in the final days of the Civil War. The Walkers have lost their only son to the fighting and hire the newly freed brothers to tend their land. George and Isabelle hope this unexpected connection might ease their devastating grief. Prentiss and Landry work to earn money for their journey north, where they plan to search for their mother, sold away during their childhood. In the nearby town of Old Ox, two Confederate soldiers carry on a secret romance in the surrounding woods. When townspeople discover their relationship, violence erupts and spreads throughout the community. The chaos threatens everyone, including the fragile bond forming between the Walker family and the two brothers. As the destruction unfolds, Isabelle steps forward to guide both the land and the people of Old Ox toward healing. Set during the brutal period of Reconstruction, this story follows characters navigating freedom, loss, and the possibility of connection across seemingly impossible divides.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, secret-romance
Setting: Old Ox, United States
Period: Civil War, Reconstruction Era
368 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company