The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains--but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor. Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning. Rash's masterful balance of violence and beauty yields a riveting novel that, at its core, tells of love both honored and betrayed.

罗恩·拉什，美国著名的诗人和小说家，尤以长期研究阿帕拉契亚山文化闻名。1953年出生于美国南卡罗莱纳州的切斯特城，毕业于加德纳大学，他获得过欧•亨利文学奖，目前他在西卡罗莱纳大学任教。著有《一脚跨进伊甸园》、《河畔圣徒》和《世界是条直行道》等作品，另外还有三部诗集和三部短篇小说集，其中《化学及其他故事》获得了2007年的法尔克纳文学奖。《萨琳娜》为其2008年最新作品，曾入围2009年福克纳文学奖决赛。