Jasper County breaks the stereotype of the Cilvil War era with an array of men and women who havd much to lose and much to gain in the beloved red soil of Georgia. Jasper is home to plantation owner Frank Arlington who has a benevolent attitude towards his slaves, partly because he secretly loves Sara Brown, his house servant. His nemesis, James Fallen, is a bigoted small town lawyer, ever resentful of Arlington's disrepect. When Arlington gives 40 acres of prime bottomland to George Brown, his illegitimate son by Sara, the local farmers are enraged. Murder, a savage war, and a fractured family at Arlington plantation ensue. The cilvil war is a tempest that ignites the best and worst in all characters.