New York: Arbor House, (1986) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's first novel set in the rural South of the 1940s and 1950s which "explores one family's convoluted history. Physical and emotional violence, religious fanaticism, and pot-boiling love and hate combine to define one of those bizarre families, seemingly exaggerated but all too familiar to most Southerners. The Treadwells, headed by the certifiably insane Robert and long-suffering Mattie, repeatedly sacrifice themselves and each other for no apparent good reasons but always with some father-against-son motivation that makes sense to the individual at the time. Descriptions of places and events are perfectly on target (Publishers Weekly) INSCRIBED on the front endpaper and dated in the year of publication. 405 pp. ISBN: 0-877958017.