This is a warm, human story of three generations of Herseys who spanned the decades between Appomattox and the end of the millennium. Like all Southerners, they had to reinvent themselves and their culture. And like everyone else, they had to cope with the violence and uncertainty of the era. Morgan dreamed of proving himself by living at the edge, as his brothers had in war, but Ruby insisted that he put such dreams on hold until the last baby turned five. His questions about suffering were never fully answered. His youngest son Benjamin, born 1899, grew up innocent and ill prepared for the unrelenting evil that would threaten him and his family before mid-century. And Bens son, Stephen, would spend his life in search of answers to Jobs ancient question: why do the innocent suffer. At the millenniums turn, he stands at the graves of those who gave him life and at last finds understanding.