Résumé : It is 1940 and a tragedy sends two young children, Lou and Oz, along with their invalid mother, from New York City to the rugged mountains of Southwestern Virginia to live with their great-grandmother. The portraits of the land and its people are described with an extraordinary eye for detail as the story flows through swells of prejudice, innocence, greed, and faith, and the question of whether one can ever really wish another well.