Ennis and Rudean return from town with news of Fort Sumter, which excites Henry about the possibility of war.

Henry spends his farm earnings on a Confederate cockade, and Ennis physically removes it during a struggle with his son.

After days of isolation outside, Robert reveals that Henry secretly left the farm to volunteer with the Confederate Army.

After ten days without Henry, Ennis reluctantly leaves the farm to search for his son and bring him home.

Joetta publicly protests at church when Preacher Rouse announces Ennis's name among the Confederate volunteers.

Joetta gives water to passing Union soldiers, openly defying Rudean's protests.

Rudean informs men in town about the Union soldiers, and the men ride through the McBrides' fields, trampling the crops.

Rudean and the Caldwells arrive at Mary's house with a casket, claiming that Ennis has died.

Joetta sinks into a monthlong depression following Ennis's presumed death, and Robert leaves to stay with the Caldwells.

Joetta investigates a sound from the springhouse and discovers a young Union soldier named Charlie Hastings hiding inside.

Confederate soldiers searching for Charlie steal the hog Robert killed and later take all of the McBrides' remaining livestock.

Joetta and Robert return from their interrupted journey to find the family's house and part of Rudean's cabin destroyed by fire.

Charlie reappears and shoots overseer Miller to save Joetta's life, revealing he had been secretly leaving food for the family.

Rudean dies from tuberculosis after telling Joetta about Anna's hidden vegetable garden, which helps the family survive.

Ennis unexpectedly appears at the farm alive, revealing he survived imprisonment at a Union prison called Fort Delaware.

The novel opens with the McBride family on their North Carolina farm as the Civil War draws near, with Henry increasingly seduced by Confederate ideals against his parents' wishes. After Henry volunteers and Ennis leaves to find him, Joetta must defend her neutrality alone as the townspeople retaliate against her. Ennis is reported dead, plunging Joetta into grief, but she finds new purpose when she takes in a young runaway Union soldier named Charlie Hastings. The family endures escalating violence — their livestock stolen, their house burned — while hiding from the overseer Miller, who intends to kill Joetta. Charlie saves her life by shooting Miller, and Rudean dies from tuberculosis before the war's end finally brings relief. In a stunning reversal, Ennis returns alive from a Union prison, and the reunited family chooses to leave their damaged past behind and head west to Texas.

The headline events that shaped the McBride family's Civil War ordeal.

Rudean glorifies the Confederacy and plantation life at the breakfast table, angering Ennis and deeply worrying Joetta.

Bess Caldwell visits Joetta wearing a cockade and tries to persuade her to show Confederate support by wearing one too.

Mary Brown visits and reveals that Benjamin Caldwell has also volunteered, and she and Hugh quietly share Joetta's neutrality.

Mr. Spivey at the general store informs Joetta that Ennis has sent a letter after volunteering with the Confederate Army.

Joetta joins the Confederate women's sewing group while wearing Henry's cockade in an attempt to protect her family.

At a town gathering, Robert shouts that he will shoot any Union soldiers he sees, shocking Joetta.

A man in a green coat runs Joetta and Robert off the road with his horse, then follows them home.

Joetta openly condemns the sewing group's racist gossip, and Bess tells her it may be best she stop coming.

Rudean retrieves Robert from the Caldwells and brings him home because Joetta is struggling to survive without family support.

Robert secretly helps Charlie escape through the back door when Confederate soldiers arrive at the farmhouse to search for him.

After returning from Bess's house, Joetta tells Rudean and Robert that Thomas Caldwell was the green-coated man who threatened them.

Overseer Miller searches for Joetta in town, and Mr. Spivey hides her in his living quarters before helping her slip out.

Joetta visits Mary and sees Hugh Brown emerging secretly from the barn, revealing he is hiding there as a deserter.

Harold spots Charlie near the farm, and Rudean tells Joetta and the boys to flee immediately toward her parents' house.

Mary visits after the war's end with flowers and announces that Robert E. Lee has surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.

While dramatic losses drive the main plot forward, a parallel set of events reveals the social world closing in around Joetta. From Rudean's pro-Confederate speeches at the breakfast table to Bess's persistent efforts to bring Joetta into the Confederate fold, the novel builds a portrait of a community demanding total loyalty. Joetta's attempts to perform Confederate sympathy — joining the sewing group and wearing the cockade — repeatedly fail as her true convictions surface. The threat from Thomas Caldwell, who runs her and Robert off the road and follows them home, grows concrete as Robert shouts Confederate slogans in the town square. Friends like Mary Brown and shopkeeper Mr. Spivey provide quiet protection, but the danger intensifies as Miller begins actively hunting Joetta in town. The section closes with Mary delivering news of the war's end, offering the first real breath of relief after years of persecution.

The community pressures and secondary conflicts that surrounded Joetta's neutrality.

Ennis refuses to go after Henry when he disappears, insisting Henry must face the consequences of his own choices.

Joetta reluctantly agrees to pretend to support the Confederacy after Rudean and Robert warn her about the family's safety.

Rudean surprises Joetta with a hand-painted wooden bluebird as a Christmas gift, revealing an unexpected tenderness toward her.

Joetta reads three letters from Ennis at the general store, including one in which he apologizes for his anger toward her.

Joetta confronts the sewing group's blatant racism and tells Bess their opposing views on the war will never be reconciled.

Joetta explains to Robert and Rudean that she cannot let anyone suffer, defending her decision to shelter Charlie.

Rudean accepts Charlie as part of the family after learning that Union soldiers killed Charlie's mother for helping a Confederate soldier.

Robert fully reconciles with Joetta and the two embrace after Charlie reveals the story of his mother's death.

Joetta visits Bess and recognizes Thomas Caldwell's distinctive green coat in the house, confirming him as the man who stalked her.

Charlie vanishes overnight during the northward journey, leaving only an arrow scratched in the ground pointing toward Virginia.

Rudean tells Joetta the person who set the fires believes she and Robert died inside, allowing the family to remain hidden.

Robert tells Joetta that before dying, Rudean confessed he deeply regretted glorifying war in front of the boys.

Hugh and the boys repair the damaged cabin after the war ends, and Joetta moves her family back onto the farm.

Ennis tells Joetta he cannot return to farm life as it once was and proposes the family move west to Texas.

The McBride family departs for Texas in their wagon, with Joetta carrying an uprooted jessamine plant to replant in their new home.

Beneath the headline events lies a series of pivotal choices and revelations that define who Joetta is and how her family transforms. Ennis's initial refusal to go after Henry sets the whole chain of events in motion, and Joetta's reluctant decision to wear the cockade reveals the cost of survival in a polarized community. Unexpected moments of grace — Rudean's carved wooden bluebird and Ennis's letters of apology — complicate easy readings of who these characters are. Charlie's arrival becomes a turning point not just for Joetta but for Robert, whose full reconciliation with his mother comes only after hearing Charlie's story of devastating loss. The family's exile in Rudean's cabin leads to final revelations: Rudean's deathbed regret about glorifying war, and later, Ennis's confession that he cannot return to the life they once had. The pool closes with the McBrides leaving North Carolina for good, carrying an uprooted jessamine plant as a symbol of resilience and new beginnings.

The key decisions, discoveries, and emotional shifts that defined Joetta's journey.