A lovely, remarkable, resourceful widow running a plantation in Louisiana; her handsome, country-simple, honest, deep-feeling Creole nephew; a divorced businessman who builds a mill on her property; the mill-manager's self-possessed younger sister; his depressed, alcoholic wife, who comes to live with him; an engaging supporting cast of Negro servants and local townspeople; two problematic one-sided love affairs; the murder of an evil young man; the murder of one of the main characters; a disastrous reconciliation; a devastating storm ... These are some of the ingredients of this charming Southern novel which defies easy categorization. In the end, what shines through all the twists and turns of the plot is the inherent, admirable goodness of the two main characters.