Among the Ashes

During the summer of 1958, a local church burned to the ground in a small town in central Virginia. While the details of what happened that early June morning were lost over the decades, Mansion Springs still has descendants who knew the people and the places involved. Our modern-day narrator is fascinated by the local legend and tries to decipher the truths from the myths. He tells the story of Rev. Og Shaffer, the minister of a neighboring church in the 1950s who found himself knee-deep in a situation that threatened not just his church building but possibly the lives of some in his congregation. One person held the answer, but it took the contribution of many of the local citizenry to peel away years of deception. Among the ashes, real and emblematic, the story unfolds through some colorful characters and plenty of conflict along the way. And in Mansion Springs, sometimes the silence rings truer than what folks say and do. Among the Ashes is a tale about everyday people experiencing events in a decade that has left its mark on our hearts. This classic Don Reid book observes the culture, music, lifestyle, warmth, and realism of that era. This story and these characters will leave you reflective and wanting to go back for more.