Shadow Mountain defines the tiny remnant community of Shadow Valley in East Tennessee where the local pit mine closed in 1981. For many years since, Elsie, who has always lived in Shadow Valley, has been the sole caregiver of her father, a former miner with black lung disease. Now middle-aged and resigned to her narrow existence, Elsie is suddenly confronted with with the threat of mountaintop removal mining. It would destroy her life space and make living in Shadow Valley intolerable. She is also convinced it is deeply wrong. This is the story of her struggle to save the mountain. In the process, her life expands in ways she never could have predicted, and she finds reserves and abilities she never dreamed she had as she develops new communication and manipulation skills. Then she falls in love with the agent of the land development company that is trying to sell out to a coal company. Can the relationship and the mountain be saved?