The Saints of Swallow Hill

Rae Lynn Cobb, 25, and her 40-year-old husband, Warren, work on a turpentine farm in North Carolina. A young man named Billy Doyle helps them, but many avoid their farm because so many workers suffer injuries there. Rae Lynn recounts her first meeting with Warren when she was 18. She had grown up in an orphanage after being dropped off as an infant and was working there when Warren arrived. The two became friends, and Warren soon gave her gifts. He then started proposing to her before she accepted in the fall. She sometimes wonders if she truly married him for love, but concludes that she does love him nonetheless. She also values the chance of creating the family and home she never had.

Rae Lynn recalls losing part of her finger early in their marriage. While putting up the sign for their farm, she accidentally cut off part of her finger with an ax. After a failed attempt on Warren’s part to heal the stump, it became infected, and Warren called a doctor. The doctor told Rae Lynn and Warren that her finger had gangrene, and he amputated it at the first joint.

Rae Lynn and Warren’s work on the turpentine farm is rewarding, especially during the Depression. However, the skinny helper, Billy, attempts to push a barrel, which crushes his foot. With his foot bloodied and damaged, Billy worries he can no longer use his foot and fears for his future. Rae Lynn asks Warren to call his son from his first marriage, Eugene, to help them on the farm. Warren is reluctant because Eugene distanced himself after his mother’s death and told Warren he would only come back if he had something to gain.

After the corn buries Del completely, Moe has Woot and Hicky move the corn. Del has an out-of-body experience in which he sees the two men and another man named Tyndall free him from the corn. When he regains consciousness, he tells Woot and Hicky what he saw, which astounds them.

Woot tells Del and Hicky about a letter from his brother saying there might be work on a turpentine camp in Georgia called Swallow Hill, near Valdosta. Moe tells Del that he will have him move the corn again the next day and is considering making that Del’s permanent job. Shaken by the experience and not wanting to risk death again, Del leaves in the night.

After walking for a while, he goes into a store where he buys a snack. He tries to seduce the young woman in the store but finds that he cannot get erect. He leaves, embarrassed, and reminisces over his past sexual conquests. Del talks to people about his experience working on the grain bins, to which they express disbelief about his out-of-body experience. He travels until he arrives at a town called Argyle, where someone directs him to a train station. A man there offers him a ride to the station, for which Del thanks him. He jumps onto a train car and rides until a man tells him he is close to Valdosta. He travels through fields before hitching a ride with a man named Tom and his three sons.

After Billy’s accident, Rae Lynn and Warren sit inside their house, unable to work on the farm because of rainstorms. Their friend Butch Crandall is visiting. Butch briefly checks out Rae Lynn and compliments her looks. Then he brings up the turpentine camp Swallow Hill, where a farm worker they know is trying to find a job. Rae Lynn sees an opportunity for them to get help there, but Warren sees no reason for them to leave their farm in North Carolina.

As Rae Lynn finishes cooking dinner, the storm causes a tree limb to rip through the roof, causing rain to leak into the house. Warren wants to cut off the tree limb at that moment, but Rae Lynn thinks it would be too dangerous and wants him to wait until the storm passes. She refuses to help him because it is dangerous.

Rae Lynn hears a yell and a thud. She goes outside to see that Warren has fallen and badly injured himself. Rae Lynn tells him he needs a doctor, but he refuses help. The storm clears soon after, confirming her thought that he should have waited. She hopes he will feel better in the next few days, but his condition does not change. Despite her and Butch’s concerns, he still refuses to see a doctor. He stops talking to her and starts yelling out and crying, which worries her. She visits him in their bedroom, but he immediately tells her to leave. She becomes convinced that it will not be long until he dies.

Tom drops Del off near the Swallow Hill sign. As he walks to the camp, he recalls his experience living in one of the turpentine camps in Georgia as a boy. His parents took him and his sister Sudie May when he was 14, and his father worked there for three years. Del learned some work on the trees as well. When his parents returned to North Carolina with his sister, he stayed behind so he could see new places. Eventually, his parents died, and his sister married, and Del somewhat regrets not coming home, though he saw no reason to return.

He asks a man with an odd eye where he can find the boss. The man directs him to the office of Pritchard Taylor, who goes by Peewee. Del tells him he wants a job and would like to work on the trees. Though Peewee and the man he met before, his new woods rider and supervisor Elijah Sweeney—or Crow—protest, they agree to let him work. Del buys supplies from Otis Riddle and his wife, Cornelia, which puts him in debt. Del enters his new shack and finds it messy and filthy. After he cleans it up, he prepares for work.

Set slightly away from camp, he finds a wooden box and is shocked to see that a man is inside it. Crow tells him to leave it alone. Crow asks for his call name, and Del chooses the call name Butler. He recalls the strategy he learned as a boy and works quickly and efficiently on chipping the trees. While he is working, Crow whips a Black man and tells the rest of the men that if they step out of line or do a poor job, Crow will put them in the wooden box. This daunts Del, but he knows he has no choice but to stay because of his debt and his knowledge that they will seek him if he runs. As he continues his work, he decides to do his best to make his situation work, looking toward a new and better life.

Warren quickly deteriorates, growing weaker and becoming delirious. He develops a fever and his stomach is hot and hard, alerting Rae Lynn that something is deeply wrong. Rae Lynn tries to act like everything is okay but still wonders if she can call Doctor Purdue. However, Warren tells her it is too late for her to do that. He then tells her to kill him like he had to do with his old dog Bessie. When she moved in, Rae Lynn grew fond of Bessie, but it devastated her when Bessie became too weak to eat and Warren had to put her down in the woods. She refuses, and Warren says he will do it himself. He then coughs up dark blood.

Unsure what to do, Rae Lynn tells him she will get Doctor Purdue and walks outside. She briefly goes into the tobacco barn where she recalls her intimate moments there with Warren and her and Warren’s inability to produce any children. She prays to God to end Warren’s suffering. Rae Lynn then hears a gunshot and, horrified, runs into the house. She finds Warren severely wounded, but still barely alive. He says that he failed to kill himself and begs Rae Lynn to kill him. Not wanting him to suffer anymore, she tells Warren she loves him and fatally shoots him. She cries, and then sees Butch Crandall in the doorway, who asks her what is happening.

Del wakes up in the morning and prepares for another day of work. He reminisces about his parents and notes the irony of his lack of commitment in comparison to his parents’ unwavering devotion to each other. Del meets Nolan Brown, Earl Dillon, Leroy Ratliff, Jonesy Jones, Charlie Burns, and Gus Strickland—the only other white man in the tree-working crew. Nolan is initially skeptical of Del due to his odd decision to work with the mostly Black crew but warms to him. Nolan warns Del about the dangers at the camp—including the violent and abusive woods rider Crow. He tells Del about Henry Goodall, a Black man who consulted Crow about a malfunctioning tool. Crow did not believe him and used Henry’s tool to slit his neck, killing him. Terrified, the rest of the crew said nothing.

Crow takes an interest in Del and expresses his white supremacist sentiments to him. Del says he only wants a job, not wanting to get into trouble, but he does not care what Crow thinks and will befriend and talk to whoever he wants. While working, Crow tells him he made a mistake. Del is sure he did not. Crow asks him who taught him how to work on trees, and Del replies that a Black man named Mr. Leroy taught him everything he knows about turpentining. Crow makes a racist implication about Del’s work and says that he missed other trees. Del explains that the trees he did not work on were not turpentine trees. Crow does not listen, however. Despite Jim Ballard’s protests, Crow takes Del to the sweatbox. Del considers running but knows he has no choice but to enter.

After Rae Lynn explains to Butch what happened, he does not believe her and accuses her of murdering Warren in cold blood, which she denies. Butch offers to not tell Eugene or anyone else his lie about her if she becomes his lover. Disgusted, she refuses. They bury Warren next to his late first wife and Rae Lynn locks the door. The following morning, she receives a letter from Eugene, who wishes to discuss his father’s will. Butch returns to the property and acts sexually aggressive toward her, even masturbating in front of her. He reveals that he always wanted her but did not pursue her because he respected Warren. He attempts to extort her once more, threatening to tell Eugene she murdered Warren if she does not have sex with him at least once. Feeling betrayed, she walks away. When she glances back at him while entering the house, he goes after her. Fearful, Rae Lynn runs into the bedroom and threatens Butch with a pistol. He leaves.

Now alone, Rae Lynn realizes Eugene might not leave anything for her. She dreads the possibility that Eugene may not believe her and that he might have distanced himself from his father because he married her. Deciding that she cannot trust Eugene or Butch, she remembers Butch’s mention of Swallow Hill and decides she will escape and start a new life there. She burns her and Warren’s bed sheets, buys men’s boots, takes his clothes, and cuts her hair short. The next morning, she leaves her cut hair on the dirt of his grave and takes his truck. She recalls the happiness and stability he brought her and hopes to find a good future. She decides to call herself Ray Cobb when she arrives at Swallow Hill.

Del lies inside the sweatbox. He knows that Crow put him in because he was working and conversing with the Black men in the camp and not because he missed any trees. His entrapment reminds him of his near-death experience in the grain bin and causes him to panic. Remembering how Mercy Jones carried herself and worked on the farm helps him relax. Eventually, he thinks about what he will do and also starts falling asleep. He remains still, not wanting Crow to see him falter, even as Crow taunts him. Crow and Jim Ballard eventually release him from the box, and Ballard tells Crow that Peewee needs all the men alive and working. The men all end their work at dusk, and Del drinks water from the well. Nolan tells Del that Crow is punishing him for working with Black men. Del does not understand why it matters and simply wants to work, but Nolan tells him that Crow will not accept it.

Nolan then invites him to the juke joint, where they buy each other drinks. Del tells him about his out-of-body experience, and Nolan mentions his grandmother’s belief in souls leaving bodies and considers Del lucky. Del then tells him about his worry about being with a woman. Nolan reassures him he will find the right woman as he did with his late wife. This comforts Del. They see a fight between a few of the men, and Nolan says they drink to cope with working at the camp. Before Del leaves, he thanks Nolan for assuring him about his experience. Nolan warns him that Del cannot engage with him and the other Black men anymore while Crow is there. Del mentions resisting Crow, but Nolan says that he knows both he and Del do not want to die yet. After Del leaves, he sees a skinny young man enter the camp and envies his truck. Del feels doomed and has a troubled sleep.

On the drive to Swallow Hill, Rae Lynn experiences trouble with the truck. A nearby farmer tells her that the radiator is out of water and gives her soap to keep it going until she can get the problem fixed. Rae Lynn finds it challenging to pretend to know about truck maintenance and navigate how men are supposed to act. While Rae Lynn fixes the radiator, the farmer emphasizes the need for self-sufficiency and problem-solving skills as a man, especially with trucks. This irritates Rae Lynn, but she gives him some money for his help. She realizes she must try harder and express acceptable masculine behaviors to pass as a man. After a while, she drives to a store for a can of soda. The cashier asks Rae Lynn if she has a family, and she says it is not her business. The woman then says that young men are no longer respectful.

When Rae Lynn arrives at Swallow Hill, she notices a man watching her. She goes into the office, where Peewee gets her information. She tells him that her name is Ray Cobb and that she is 26 years old. He finds it difficult to believe because she has no facial hair or stubble. He asks about her family and, realizing that she needs to pass as a man, says that she had a wife who died in an accident. Peewee assigns her to woods rider Jim Ballard, who will give her work. He has her sign a contract and assigns her a number. She sees the man who watched her and sees that his shack is next to hers. When Rae Lynn enters her shack, she is shocked at how dirty the shack is and soon finds fleas on her legs. Del appears and gives her advice on getting rid of the fleas and asks her who she is. She says her name is Ray Cobb, and that she is from South Carolina. Rae Lynn also tells him she was assigned to Jim Ballard; Del tells her she is fortunate and to be wary of the woods rider Crow. She makes the best of her new life at Swallow Hill.