
In the Appalachians of North Carolina near the end of WWI, lonely Laurel
Shelton lives with her brother, newly returned from the war, in a
forbidding place known as the cove. Shunned all of her life by the
townsfolk of Mars Hill because they believe she is a witch, Laurel
despairs of ever making a life for herself. But one day a stranger
appears carrying a silver flute and a note explaining that his name is
Walter and that he is mute. But Walter is hiding his true identity, for
he is well aware that it would place their lives in grave danger.
Meanwhile, Chauncey Feith, a dimwitted and ambitious army recruiter,
stokes the locals' hatred and fear of the enemy, while Laurel's brother
and others who actually served in the war regard his posturing with
great contempt. Poet and literary novelist Rash effortlessly summons the
rugged Appalachian landscape as well as the small-mindedness and
xenophobia of a country in the grip of patriotic fervor, drawing
striking parallels to the heated political rhetoric of today.