Set in the fictional town of Bowden, Alabama, in June 1880, the plot focuses on the wealthy, ruthless, and innately evil Hubbard family and their rise to prominence.

Patriarch Marcus Hubbard was born into poverty and toiled at menial labor while teaching himself Greek philosophy and the basics of business acumen.

He treats his good-hearted but slightly eccentric Bible-quoting wife Lavinia in a way designed to undermine both her self-confidence and sense of reality; she is no help to her children and wants nothing more than to join a religious retreat so she can expiate her sins.

Regina is the sexually active daughter who wants to live in Chicago with Birdie's cousin, former Confederate officer John Bagtry, a move discouraged by her father, who has a disturbingly unnatural closeness to the girl.

A 1972 PBS broadcast directed by Daniel Mann starred Barry Sullivan as Marcus, Dorothy McGuire as Lavinia, Robert Foxworth as Benjamin, Andrew Prine as Oscar, Tiffany Bolling as Regina, Tisha Sterling as Birdie, William Bassett as Bagtry, and Lane Bradbury as Laurette.