Nathaniel Pemberton left his Mississippi plantation upbringing to seek a golden fortune in California. He assumed nothing at home would change--that the place he remembered and the people he loved would endure forever. But then the War Between the States broke out. Fighting to defend the family home, Nathaniel's brother lost an arm but won Nathaniel's childhood sweetheart. When Nathaniel decides to return home, no one, it seems, but his father is entirely happy to see the prodigal son. Where does Nathaniel belong? Can he find the forgiveness his heart longs for?