Descent Into Eden

Spanning the most significant months of the Civil War for men and women in Central Kentucky, DESCENT INTO EDEN tells the story of six people who chose to leave Pleasant Hill, the celibate Shaker community, and of one man, Brother Hezikiah Hughes, who elects to stay because of his devotion to the Shaker way of life as well as his unconscious fears of the outside world. As the novel opens, young Willie Hanson foils Confederate soldier Billy Joe Gentry in his attempt to rape Shaker Sister Jennie Thompson. From that moment on, Willie feels a bond with both people: with Jennie because she is beautiful and vulnerable and he has saved her from rape, and with BJ because he can see in the older man some essential decency that he has also helped to save. Although the pacifist Shakers refused to take sides in the war, they were unable to avoid the ravages of its violence and hatred. They became targets for both the Union and Confederate troops as they sought food and horses and amusement.