The war that none of them wanted rages around them, although the ending is nearing, with its losses, its devastation. Tranquilla must hold as much together as she can: her people, the land, remnants of the Old South's legacy. Her daughters are belles with blisters on their hands, and the last of her children work beside her in the fields with the few hired hands. They must hold on, endure, then face the task of rebuilding. It is hard, but it has always been hard, and she is no stranger to adversity. Her one goal is to see that all her children are as secure as possible in the chaos of Mississippi Reconstruction, in some ways worse than the war itself. As the men come home—those who are left—they face the future with her still leading, still tireless, still undaunted. She must not give up, cannot give up yet. Or ever.
