A gripping tale of love, murder, and betrayal in the antebellum South. In 1853, Reverend George Carawan was arrested for murder in the small town of Rose Bay, North Carolina. The subsequent trial was a media sensation at the time, with the story being reported in newspapers as far as London, England. The idea of a well-respected preacher shooting an unarmed man would have been enough to gain an audience's attention, but Reverend Carawan was thought to have done many more sinister things in his lifetime, all of which he found necessary in order to maintain his position of power and wealth in the community where he had made a name for himself. Beneath the Splendor tells the story of what might have happened to propel these tragic events just as the corroded foundation of the South began to crack in the years before the Civil War. *** Mary knows she should resist the advances of the charming Reverend Carawan, but she doesn't. All she has ever known is life as a domestic servant, but she has always wanted more. When he proposes marriage while his first wife still clings to life, she accepts. After all, he is the wealthiest and most influential man in Rose Bay, North Carolina, and everything she has ever dreamed of seems within reach. Finally, it is her chance to experience the life she has always been denied in the self-proclaimed glorious South. Unfortunately for Mary, it isn't long before Reverend Carawan's blatant infidelity and violent outbursts shatter the majestic life she had once imagined. He preaches the Word of God, but she only finds true salvation in the arms of the new schoolteacher Clement Lassiter. He is everything Reverend Carawan is not and restores her hope for a better life. But Reverend Carawan doesn't tolerate anything that might tarnish his good name or jeopardize his standing in the community. He is a dangerous man when angry, but when threatened, he is deadly. Having been enamored by what the world seems like rather than what it truly is, Mary finds herself bound to a life not worth living, but a ghostly encounter enlightens her to what lies beneath the splendor, and along with others who have been forced to live in the shadows of the South, she is hopeful that Reverend Carawan will be brought to justice.