This Scorched Earth

“One of the finest crafters of historical fiction” follows an Arkansas family's epic struggles from the Civil War to the opening of the American West (New York Times–bestselling author Heather Graham). The Hancocks were true American pioneers: tough, enterprising, eager to make their own destinies. Then came the Civil War: the bloody conflict that destroyed most of a generation and cast the Hancocks to the winds . . . Amid the ravages of war and the struggle to rebuild, William Gear draws readers into the hopes, dreams, and despairs of the Hancock siblings: Philip, the doctor whose life is destroyed upon his return home; Butler, the teacher whose spiritual path leads to insanity; Billy, whose all-consuming guilt has terrible consequences; and Sarah, the stunning beauty who flees West to reinvent herself after surviving a brutal attack. Through the tragedies and triumphs of a single family, this sprawling epic shows how ordinary people deal with unimaginable devastation, and how the bonds of family can never truly be broken.