From the Scottish parents he barely knew, Conan Byrne inherited his fate: from his father's side, the family's predisposition to an early onset of heart failure; from his mother's, a touch of Second Sight. The interplay of both impels his journey from the English tidal island of Lindisfarne to the vineyards of Upstate New York, and finally to the rural mountains of Virginia, where the challenge of his life awaits. It's late October, and after a few more cool nights, the vineyard of the estate Conan renovated with his wife and son will see its first harvest since Prohibition. But the town of Oak Hill, led by the ultra conservative Reverend Boyle, is unyielding in its determination to stop him.

Finally, a hydrangea book for the Northern gardener which answers the age-old question, "How do I get my hydrangeas to bloom?" Author Tim Boebel has come up with a proven method for getting blooms on macrophylla and serrata hydrangeas grown in the colder climates. Loaded with full-color photographs, this book details over a hundred cultivars and what they need to explode into bloom in the North.