A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young wife, Ada, who he left behind to tend their farm. As Inman makes his perilous journey home, Ada struggles to keep their home intact with the assistance of Ruby, a mysterious drifter sent to help her by a kindly neighbor.
The story of two small town boys from different sides of the tracks: 1950's childhood and self-redemption. Young "Whitey" Black (so called because of a tuft of blanched hair on the left side of his head) lives in poverty with his single mother and ailing, four-year old sister, Sandy. Just across town, young Jerry Barlow lives the advantages of a middle class lifestyle with both parents and his younger brother. When mischief casts Whitey and Jerry into a shared paper route, Jerry quickly learns of Whitey's desire to buy his sister an angel doll for Christmas. Even though no such dolls exist in their hometown, Whitey, Jerry and a host of colorful characters set out in search of Sandy's gift. Along the way, reversals of fortune, theft, prejudice and, ultimately, the boy's friendship opens their eyes to the vastness of the small town around them.
After a long search, lawyer Clarke MacGruder finally locates his long lost father Jack. At first, everything seems fine with his new extended family, until the two set off on a hunting trip, where Jack starts showing a rather violent streak to his nature.
In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.
Margaret Mitchell, portrayed as rebellious and spirited as Scarlett O'Hara, grows up in a comfortably middle-class Atlanta home, absorbing her grandmother's stories of the Civil War and the burning of their city by the Yankees. Young Peggy, as she likes to be called, goes to Smith College in Massachusetts and hates it. Back in Atlanta, her mildly scandalous reputation is made more so by her first marriage, to Red Upshaw, a bootlegging rake. Later, her second husband encourages her to expand her writing talents beyond feature articles for The Atlanta Journal. Her first and only novel becomes one of the best-selling books of all time.