Publisher's Synopsis
Tragedy strikes the New York-based Cardinal family when their car is involved in a terrible accident. Twelve-year-old Lou and seven-year-old Oz survive, but the crash leaves their father dead and their mother in a coma. It would seem that their world has been shattered forever until their great-grandmother, Louisa Mae, agrees to raise the children on her Virginia farm.
Life is harsh in the Virginia mountains, where the land must be worked if one is to survive. But with the unconditional friendship of Jimmy 'Diamond' Skinner and the compassion of local lawyer Cotton Longfellow, the children gradually rebuild their lives, even as Lou, the eternal realist, and Oz, the possessor of unwavering faith, struggle with their mother's plight.
Soon, though, their rural idyll is threatened by the discovery of natural gas on the mountain. Determined to protect her beloved home from the ravages of big business, Louisa Mae refuses to sell. But times are hard, and when neighbours hear of the potential wealth the company could bring, local opinion begins to turn against her. Then the Cardinal family find themselves ensnared in another battle, to be played out in a crowded Virginia courtroom: a battle for justice, for survival, and for the right to stay together in the only place they know as home.
Filled with rich humour and desperate poignancy, WISH YOU WELL is a tale of family, faith, humanity and prejudice, set against the magical backdrop of the Virginia high rock.
