When a creative, introspective eighteen-year-old, newly engaged to his childhood sweetheart, is forced to serve in war, will he remain intact? Who will he be after three years of struggle, not only against an enemy force that includes his older brother, but against his very nature? Set in the mountains of western Virginia during the Civil War era, Madam’s Creek tells the story of Marcus Lilly and Maylene Farley, doing their best to cope with the madness of war in a region that is first part of the Confederacy, then part of fledgling West Virginia, a Union state. Pulled apart by the conflict, they must find ways to keep their love and hope alive amidst the avalanche of anxiety and loss the war brings. Finally united, they face an unexpected threat to their bond, and it can be resolved only through the revelation of a long-held secret. A secret held by someone neither Maylene nor Marcus ever considered.