The author has done a wonderful job of capturing the importance of family and family land in the South. I was not familiar with quail plantations and found the information about the one belonging to the Parkers new and interesting. As ever in the South, class plays a major role in the story as Luke and his mother are taken in by the wealthy Parkers but real strains develop when Luke falls in love with the Parker’s daughter – generosity only extends so far. Luke’s love for the land is well described and when developers threaten it he and Angus Parker form an alliance to defeat them. There are complications there as well, however. I was hooked from the first by the personal relationships and the question of what would finally happen to the land. David Allen Vargo has a beautiful voice well suited to sounding “Southern” and the skill and good taste not to overdo it. The accent never descends into parody or caricature. He understands the characters and the complex threads running among them and hits just the right notes. This was a new author for meand I’m looking forward to reading his other book.