'A twisted spar whistled through the air like a cannon ball, cutting through the tops of two maple trees. The air became black with coal dust. As the last echo of the explosion began to thin in the distance, the boy could hear the leaves from the trees settling to the ground around him...'

In TO THE BRIGHT AND SHINING SUN James Lee Burke brings his brilliant feel for time and place to a stunning story of Appalachia in the early 1960s. Here Perry Woodson Hatfield James, torn between family honour and the lure of seedy "watering holes" must somehow survive the tempestuous journey from boyhood to manhood and escape the dark heritage of the Cumberland Mountains in this 'surging, bitter novel as authentic as moonshine' (New York Times)
Cover by Joe Servello