The Mannings--a family torn between Britain's majestic rule and the raw, red earth of a great South Carolina plantation.

They were the new Americans - Elizabeth, the matriarch, bound to the past, yearning for a time yet to be...Joseph, the aristocrat, forever loyal to King and Crown...young Andrew, the dreamer, ready to shun the safe harbor of her heritage and take his chance in the wild Cherokee country...gentle Laurel, swept on dangerous currents of a desperate hope...and dazzling Gwynne, her heart bound to a passionate promise. Bold men and proud, spirited women, they hungered for life, thirsted for justice. And among them were those sworn to seize the land's raw power, to make their own law - the savage law of a young nation that struggled to be born.