In a one-room mobile home, in the hills below the Appalachians, a young, unmarried, alcoholic mother gives birth.

Her baby, Demon, emerges helpless into the world, like a "small, bruised boxer," as his mother is nearly unconscious from the drink.

To survive, he will need this early fighting spirit. And to cope with the life that awaits him, he will enlist all his gifts: charm, wit, and some unexpected talents, both legal and not.

In this isolated corner of Virginia, poverty and substance addiction are not distant concepts. They are present and as natural as the grass that grows everywhere. For Demon, born on the "wrong side of luck," the affection and security he craves are as unattainable as the ocean he dreams of seeing someday. The question is how far he is willing to travel to get there.

Flooded with truth, anger, and compassion, Kingsolver's novel is an epic tale of love, loss, courage, and redemption.