The book is set in a small upstate New York Village. It's titled the Ledger. The premise is that a business man keeps a journal of his sales and in the margins of the book writes notes to remind him what happened each day. The first notes start on April 11, 1861 and the last on July 31, 1861. I've attempted to show how the war affected the everyday lives of the people who remained behind and those that went off to fight.