Despite his fiancee's objections, young doctor Quentin Larribee joins the Union Army as a physician's assistant, journeying from his native New York City to the war-ravaged South. In the heat of battle, Quentin makes the costliest mistake of his life: He fatally wounds a man who he realizes seconds later was carrying the white flag of surrender. Devastated, the honorable soldier stays with the fast-fading rebel, William Breckinridge, and later finds in the dead man's wallet photos of his wife and children. Later, Quentin returns to New York, but plagued by guilt, journeys to Arkansas to find some sort of absolution in helping his victim's family. Drawn to the rebel soldier's lovely widow, Eden, Quentin lingers in the South until it is too late: He is in love with the wife of the man he killed. His secret torments him, even more so when Eden is stricken with a mysterious illness and needs him more than ever. The high emotional stakes in this stirring novel will keep readers burning the midnight oil until the romantic and satisfying conclusion.