Randall Stargill lies dying on his southern Appalachian farm, and his four sons have come home to build him a coffin from the cache of rosewood he long has hoarded for the special purpose. Meanwhile, like a vulture hovering over prey, a local real estate developer is readying an offer for the farm that will be extremely hard for the heirs to refuse as soon as the old man is gone. And at the same time, mountain wise-woman Nora Bonesteel, Randall's sweetheart of long ago, must bring to light a small box to be buried with Randall - a box containing human bones.Thus the stage is set for a tale of family strife, dark secrets, and haunting legends that mix present with past tragedies among mountain people torn between tradition and change. In a style both lyrical and beautifully detailed, with a narrative flow that moves seamlessly from mystically glowing Indian lore and time-burnished tales of Daniel Boone to the sharp-edged, sometimes violent realities of the Appalachia of today, novelist Sharyn McCrumb captures the unique flavor of the region that she has made her own fictional realm as she unfolds her tale of mystery and revelation, mounting tension and shattering denouement. Read Less