Ron Rash

North Carolina mountains at the end of the 1920s – George and Serena Pemberton, love-struck newly-weds, begin to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man’s life in the wilderness. With power and influence now in their hands, the Pembertons refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their inflated love and ambitions. However, once Serena discovers George’s hidden past and faces an unchangeable fate of her own, the Pemberton’s passionate marriage begins to unravel leading toward a dramatic reckoning.

In a rural Appalachian community haunted by the legacy of a Civil War massacre, a rebellious young man struggles to escape the violence that would bind him to the past.

When millionaire George Vanderbilt decided to build his dream house in Asheville, he hired landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds and gardens of the sprawling estate. German forester Carl Schenck was hired to manage the forest and demonstrate sustainability. Explore the story of Schenck’s work at the Biltmore Estate and its impact on the American conservation movement.