“I shall reveal to you the one human act which, if implemented universally, will end mankind’s turmoil and mayhem.”
- from The Motive of Mayhem
In 1919, tragedy strikes young Barker Cunningham in Charleston. To lessen his torment, he visits the plantation in Appalachia where he was born. There he meets Polly, the charismatic young heiress of a quince fruit farm, for whom he develops a profound passion. He also gets acquainted with one of her dear friends, a primitive old sage, as well as the other equally important characters. As he learns more about the legendary quince, he’s astounded to realize that this valuable fruit has largely been forgotten. Is this some kind of symbol? What other important facts of nature have also been displaced or distorted because of the constant trends, fads or fashions of civilization? After heart-pounding scenes and events, Barker experiences psychological breakthroughs on the matter, all foreshadowed by the sage. These wild mental discoveries, the secrets that he suspected existed, help him make sense of his life, namely his earlier misfortune, his romance with Polly, the substance of society and, by extension, the tumult and turmoil in the world. In the end, he learns that tragedy teaches truth. For Barker, the entire experience is a journey into the knowledge of the big picture of the world.