Fifteen-year-old Rep Doe ran away from his abusive drunken daddy and sharecropper home in south Georgia one night with nothing but the clothes on his back. So begins a story of coming of age. He survives in the woods, grows up and get schooled the hard way.
He walks the backroads for four years, working on small farms where he learns skills and meets Tess, a farmer's daughter, who teaches him about women. One winter is spent with redneck loggers, where he learns to defend himself and figures he can handle whatever he ran into.
Now six three and two hundred hard pounds, he is looking for a job for the winter. He ends up at Shoal Creek Farm, a distiller of illegal whiskey. Red Hogan, the violent owner, is immediately a problem and Brit, his son hates him on sight. He has to deal with both.
He didn't expect the three women he meets at Shoal Creek - Lila, Bess and Star - to change his life forever. Lila, the owner's daughter, Bess the beautiful river girl and Star, a beauty from across the river all affect him in various ways. Two he will love; one he will marry, but the one with the morals of an alley cat will affect his life for years to come.