Scout Finch, the young daughter of a local attorney in the Deep South during the 1930s, tells of her father's defense of an African-American man charged with the rape of a white girl.

Sethe, an escaped slave who now lives in post-Civil War Ohio, has borne the unthinkable and works hard at "beating back the past." She struggles to keep Beloved, an intruder, from gaining possession of her present while throwing off the legacy of her past.

Trying to forget his past and live an honest life, escaped convict Jean Valjean risks his freedom to take care of a motherless young girl during a period of political unrest in Paris.

The adventures of sixteen-year-old David Balfour, an orphan, who after being kidnapped by his villainous uncle manages to escape and becomes involved in the struggle of the Scottish highlanders against English rule.

As the Japanese forces try to recapture Guadalcanal from the American forces occupying the island, many fates converge and inter-twine during World War II.

Continues the story begun in the author's novel, "Look Away," telling of James and Kevin Bannon, brothers whose personal animosity is exacerbated when they fight on opposing sides of the Civil War.