This is a story of place, in the tradition of Southern fiction, with vivid images of Arkansas and the values of small-town life.

It is 1990, the stock markets are soaring and Lee Addison is on a fast track to success in Silicon Valley. Just out of law school with a job lined up at one of the best firms in the Bay Area, he is positioned to join the ranks of young elites who will shape the 21st century.

But standing between him and his shining future is a promise to his mother to spend the summer back home in Riverton, Arkansas.

He is unprepared for the siren pull his hometown still holds on his heart, as he grapples with his sister's troubled adolescence, ethical questions relating to the drowning death of a black youth and the weight of his ancestral legacy.

To make matters worse, the allure of a rekindled relationship with Annie Rayburn threatens to disrupt his carefully planned future.

It is a tale of crisis and survival and the universal struggle to tap into values that will hold fast against the uncertainties of time.