Why would Lauren Worthington, reporter for the Cedar Creek Chronicle, trade romance, a good job and a bright future for controversy and peril? The year is 1983, and the western South Carolina village of Cedar Creek with its racially embittered past and depressed economy has begun to change, but far too slowly for Lauren. Her father, whose mansion was built more than a century before on the backs of slaves, plans to construct a shopping mall just off the nearby interstate. Her boyfriend, a black attorney and a member of the village board, is the project's staunchest opponent. And her boss, a savvy taskmaster who favors political pragmatism over ethical principles, is on her back. Determined to prove herself an objective journalist, Lauren takes a stand. Arson strikes her boyfriend's home. Compelling evidence points an incriminating finger at her father. But a shocking disclosure about her boyfriend's past, coupled with revelations he had been giving money to an Aryan separatist, spawns new suspicions. Accusations run wild. Threats abound. Tensions with both her father and boyfriend magnify until bizarre courtroom theater forces all concerned to reexamine not only their positions but also themselves.