This opening novel of a projected tetralogy called The Masters of Destiny examines the recurrent American conundrum, the issue of race. At the core stands two families related first by ownership and then, because of the infidelity of a plantation master, by blood, - establishing on a familial level an anguished, disorderly, and insoluble relationship paralleling the great forces of the historical. Fully engaging a social, sexual, and even violent milieu, the story portrays the clash of opposing cultures in scenes ranging from the American South to New England and Europe. The Civil War is made vivid by the sheer terror, horror, and confusion of both civilian and soldier. The book culminates with the journey made by a plantation 'heroine' and her aged slave through the collapse of the white Southern world - and the corollary release of the black - to Washington in search of her imprisoned Confederate husband. Part social mosaic, psychological analysis, historical study, and of course romance and drama, Lost in The Elysian Fields reveals the characters' personality by their response to these epical events which either compel them into action or sweep them into oblivion.