Carel is a wheeler and dealer that's looking for any opportunity to keep the old and feel of Fredericksburg alive - his latest attempt being a building burned down in an attempt to collect insurance money. His daughter Willow doesn't want to have anything to do with him, after he left her and her mother behind. Needless to say the start of the book isn't overly uplifting, although it holds some interest having visited Fredericksburg in recent years.