Set in Trion, Alabama, Janet Hall is a novel of love, guilt, family, manners, bourbon, friendship, and redemption that moves between the present and the past. Janet and Jacob have had a forty-nine-year affair-Trion High School sweethearts, a young married couple, a divorced couple who can't stay out of each other's bed even when Jacob was remarried with twin girls. The glue of their tumultuous relationship is a mutual passion for each other and for the written word. Jacob, the writer, full of early success, has lost his nerve and requires the approval of Janet, his ideal reader, before he can submit his work for publication. Janet awaits his daily call, usually after midnight when both are tipsy. One night, she gives him an ultimatum: "Either come back to Trion, or I'm done. Find someone else to hold your hand." The next day Jacob is dead.