Ron Rash

It's 1951 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blackburn Gant, his life irrevocably altered by a childhood case of polio, seems condemned to spend his life among the dead as the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery. It suits his withdrawn personality, and the inexplicable occurrences that happen from time to time rattle him less than interaction with the living. But when his best and only friend, the kind but impulsive Jacob Hampton, is conscripted to...

Enduring the mistakes and tragedies that have shaped their lives in contemporary Appalachia, a sheriff on the brink of retirement and a haunted park ranger confront violent forces when an elderly local is accused of poisoning a trout stream.

In 1929, just as the Depression has hit, newlywed couple George and Serena Pemberton, move from Boston to North Carolina to build a timber empire. Although Serena proves herself to be an important part of their success, overseeing crews and handling every bit of trouble that comes upon them, when Serena discovers she's unable to bear children, it sets her on a path of destruction.