"Set in Graniteville, in post-Civil War South Carolina, this book is a tale of privilege and hardship, animosity and vengeance brought to life through two families: the Greggs, the wealthy owners of a cotton mill, and their employees the McEvoys, a father and son beset by misfortune. After Robert McEvoy loses his leg in an accident-- rumored to have been caused by his nemesis James Gregg, the son of the mill's founder-- the angry and bitter young man deserts his job and family. Two years later, Robert returns. His mother is dying, and his father, the mill's gardener, is confined indoors working the factory line. These intertwined events stoke the slow burning rage McEvoy has long carried, a fury that erupts in a terrible act of violence that ultimately consumes the Gregg family and his own."--Amazon.com.