THE FUTURE seems to hold limited possibilities for Son Erby. The African-American child of a farm laborer in 1930s Depression-era Tennessee, his fate seems as certain as the sunset at day's end. But when his father takes him to work at the Coleman Farm and hands down the secret to making the corn liquor, everything changes. MOVING FROM from the shaded parlors of the wealthy Sawyer clan to the illegal activities in the woods along the Mississippi river, this perceptive novel explores the roots of racism, and the dangerous power of secrets that will shatter every taboo in a sleepy little town caught between the past and the future. Beginning with Son's simple plan to make his fortune with the most common drug of his era, white lightning whiskey, and speeding toward an explosive climax that will expose the twisted roots of his family tree, The Legend of Quito Road is a look at a bygone time, the sobering echoes of which can be heard today.