Ron Rash

Estranged for decades after a turbulent 1969 summer spent with a free-spirited young woman, two brothers are forced by a shocking reminder to confront the past events that divided them.

Traveling to the mountains of 1929 North Carolina to forge a timber business with her new husband, Serena Pemberton champions her mastery of harsh natural and working conditions but turns murderous when she learns she cannot bear children.

A collection of stories that navigates the emotionally harsh terrain of Appalachia includes "The Trusty," in which a convict sent to fetch water for the chain gang tries to convince a farmer's young wife to help him escape.

From the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling award-winning author of Serena and The Cove, thirty of his finest short stories, collected in one volume.

No one captures the complexities of Appalachia—a rugged, brutal landscape of exquisite beauty—as evocatively and indelibly as author and poet Ron Rash. Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, two O Henry prizes, and a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award,

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In 1929, just as the Depression has hit, George and Serena Pemberton, love-struck newlyweds, move from Boston to North Carolina to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattlesnakes, even saving a man's life in the wilderness. With power and influence now in their hands, the Pembertons refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their inflated love and ambitions. However, once Serena discovers...