In 1923 East Texas, young Leola leaves her loving family for a teaching job in a backwoods community miles from home. She knows there will be challenges, but doesn't anticipate a bitter, unkind co-teacher, a parent who wishes to harm her—or the man from the woods. As a bride, Leola begins a lonely life on an isolated river road in the bayous of western Louisiana. Over the next six decades her...
Third-generation apple farmer Will Parson must find a distributor and laborers for his harvest—and a way to placate his wife, who yearns for luxury. How can he hold on to Applewood Orchard amid the Great Depression? Eighteen acres separate Will's farm from the estate owned by Carl and Eleanor Rhode, a couple who harbor deep secrets from each other and from the community. With the world seeming...