I love a good Southern novel. This has been on my to-read list for almost two years, and I'm so glad I finally picked it up. I loved the history aspect, and I loved how real the characters became to me. I loved how attached I became to even the peripheral characters. I loved the emotions I felt while reading, and I loved the ultimate message that even though we may think we're too different from others, we share so many more things in our human experience than we realize. In so many different ways we all experience love, disappointment, pain, triumph, fulfillment, anger, and it's in that way that we're unique as individuals and united as people. If you're looking for a down-to-earth, compelling Southern novel, you've found it.