The Virginia Valley is an historical novel set in the 1840s that chronicles the journey of an Irish blacksmith, Aidan Smith, and his family to labor alongside African American slaves at High Meadows plantation in Virginia as indentured servants. The Smiths are generally accepted in their new culture, and feel a closeness to the slaves, nurtured by common faith. But that faith is tested by events that threaten to destroy the owners of the plantation, Aidan, and the closest of his new friends and allies.