Beauty from Ashes
As she begins to piece together her broken life, all around her the society she knows so well is falling apart. The roots of the Civil War are already evident. Anne's family, like the South itself, seethes with internal conflict. Her son and grandson, who find it impossible to spurn their Southern heritage, enlist in the Confederate Army. Anne, in strong sympathy with the Unionists, finds her life disintegrating once again, and the family, the region, and the nation begin an agonizing collapse. But Anne, like the Union, endures. She learns that even in life's cruelest circumstances, there is always a place for the unquenchable human spirit to find a refuge, and to blossom anew.