Book excerpt: Caught up in the calamity of a nation teetering on the brink of Civil War, two brothers, both Southern-born but separated by hundreds of miles and vastly differing traditions, struggle to find themselves in the radically opposing cultures of North and South. William Marsh of Dahlonega, Georgia, enthusiastically answers his state's call for volunteers and marches off to war. While naively searching for glory, he pines for beautiful Mary Stewart, a temptress who rewards his affections with deceit as she obsesses over Jonathon Evans, a rogue and William's sworn enemy. Residing with relatives in the rugged mountains of Northern New Hampshire, William's older brother Thomas struggles against inner demons and regional prejudice, all the while daring to love the intelligent and passionate Stephanie Carroll, whose rabidly anti-Southern uncle schemes to drive them apart. As the nation tears itself apart in ever more bloody clashes, the brothers not only face perils and temptations at home, but also the hazards of distant battlefields, as their destinies thrust them into the ranks of opposing armies - where one wears gray, and the other blue.