The Golden Apples is an acutely observed, richly atmospheric portrayal of small-town life in Morgana, Mississippi. There´s Snowdie, who has to bring up her twin booys alone after her husband, King MacLain, disappears one day, discarding his hat on the banks of the Big Black. There´s Loch Morrisson, convalescing with malaria, who watches from his bedroom window as wayward Virgie Rainey meets a sailor in the vacant house opposite. Meanwhile, Miss Eckhart, the piano teacher, grieving the loss of her most promising pupil, tries her hand at arson.