The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains - but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattlesnakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor.
Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.
Rash's masterful balance of violence and beauty yields a riveting novel that, at its core, tells of love both honored and betrayed.
"Serena catapults Ron Rash to the front ranks of the best American novelists." - Pat Conroy "A complex and compelling study of human greed and the grimmest of lusts - that for wealth and power...An epic achievement." - Jeffrey Lent, bestselling author of In the Fall
All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
Synopsis
The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains - but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattlesnakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor.
Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.
Rash's masterful balance of violence and beauty yields a riveting novel that, at its core, tells of love...
Reviews
...
Combine Rash's prose (just enough, never too much), his great story (wonderful pacing, suspense, and characters), and Phil Gigante's superb narration--and you have what amounts to a perfect listening experience. Gigante provides outstanding voices for an ambitious couple who run a lumber business in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929. Protagonist Serena is given an upper-crust voice and her husband, a deep, commanding tone that fits the character perfectly. Gigante excels equally for the other characters--ranch hands, a young woman caring for her son, an evil henchman, a benevolent sheriff, and many more. Gigante never falters. His stellar performance and Rash's believable dialogue of the times create a winning listening experience. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Ron Rash is the author of three prize-winning novels - One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River, and The World Made Straight - thee collections of poems and two collections of stories. A recipient of the O. Henry Prize, he holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University.
