This narrative non-fiction book is the story of an Appalachian family struggling, during the first half of the twentieth century, to overcome seeds of destruction planted in the distant past. Although the details show a region evolving from backwoods isolation into tentative participation in the Great Society, the real story illustrates how personality characteristics found in one generation influence the moral development of successive ones.

The story opens in 1915, when Wrae's bitch with her fate leads to overindulgence of her firstborn son, Don Carlos. Back story supplies Wrae's history and the basis for her bitterness.

Handsome, narcissistic and clever, Don lives life on his own terms, leaving his long-suffering wife and seven children to sink or swim. Rather than lose their way in the chaos and insecurity of their world, the children, each in their own way, develop resiliency by virtue of mastering real hurdles and their need to make their mother proud.

The river that runs through this coal mining valley serves as backdrop as well as metaphor for unexpected hardships and physical barriers as well as emotional escape and continuity.