Chapter 1 Summary

This innovative novel tells the multi-generational story of the Stampers, a lumber family in Oregon. Throughout the novel, tension-filled relationships within the family are echoed by the relationship the family has with a nearby town and its citizens, most of whom harbor generations-old resentments of the Stampers. More important than the novel's substance, however, is its style. Narrative voice and perspective shifts frequently between time periods and between characters, creating the thematically-relevant sense that there is no core truth, only interpretations of events.

Each chapter begins with a poetically written prologue. In this chapter, the prologue contains a detailed description of the Old Stamper Place and the unsteady, constantly eroding riverbank upon which it balances. It concludes with a description of a human arm being hung out an upper floor window and a woman's voice shouting the name of Hank Stamper.

Draeger, suffering...