Love and War is the second in a trilogy weighing in at 1,000+ pages and continues the story of the Hazard and Main family through the U.S. Civil War, as the South secedes from the Union and a nation is torn in two. At Mont Royal, as elsewhere in the south, the slaves are restless and rebellious, making the plantation difficult to manage. Orry’s wound keeps him from the battlefield, but he answers the call of duty taking a desk job in Richmond. Orry’s scheming sister Ashton also lives in Richmond with her husband James and she and her lover successfully dabble in smuggling luxury goods. Up north George accepts a desk job in Washington, as does his scheming brother Stanley who is making a mint selling defective shoes to the army. The evil Elkanah Bent continues his mad obsession with the Hazards and Mains, and he also holds possession of Madeline’s big secret.