Thomas Nelson Page was a Virginia writer who wrote southern plantation literature. This book published in 1903 tells a story that takes place post Civil War, when Gordon Keith must work to restore his family's fortunes after his father’s estate was stripped from him following the Confederacy's defeat. His father is reduced to being a paid overseer of the crumbling estate, so Keith attempts to repurchase it from opportunistic villainous Northern carpet-baggers and return it to its former glory. Romance ensues when he has to choose between the girl he loves and the beautiful woman who fascinates him, between the old South and the North. The novel explores themes of race, class, and identity, and offers a glimpse into the complexities of life in the South during this period of history.