A singular family

For the first time, the entire Mustian cycle in one volume, with a preface by the author. Rosacoke Mustian initially "stood up, live from her first paragraph" in one of Reynolds Price's earliest short stories, "A Chain of Love," and Price made the beginning of her life with Wesley Beavers the subject of his dazzling first novel, A Long and Happy Life.

Eventually, Price spent two more novels, A Generous Man and Good Hearts, with this single family, telling a story of devotion and endurance that is now the hallmark of one of the most illustrious careers in American letters.