Nothing in the air Saturday evening in May of 1950 predicts that from Naomi Hollister's kitchen at the Tysen Hotel to the pulpit of the First Baptist Church, few will be left unscarred in body or spirit by the conflict that erupts at Tysen's Annual Pie Supper.

Certainly, Naomi can't know the fight that begins between Sample Forney and Ray Redeem will be one she takes up. She can't guess her opponent will not be Sample Forney, who lusts after young Alice Tolney, or Alice's father, Webster Tolney, who agrees to barter her away to Sample. But the challenge is Naomi's own Baptist preacher, Busby Howard, a man who likes wearing his mantle in Tysen; it marks him as the leader of his com-munity. In small Missouri towns, most of the folks know the Trinity is made up of God, the Father; God, the Son; and god, the Baptist preacher. Howard is no exception, and he makes sure his flock understands.

The Tysen Hotel presents a novel of the struggle for love and faith against an onslaught of greed, lust, and a preacher's damnation in a small town in the foot-hills of the Ozarks.