The novel traces the life of African-American Brewster McAtee, a hardworking and innovative carpenter, as he struggles for his dreams to own land and build a home and respectability in rural Alabama. When the Civil Rights Movement explodes, he is drawn into the core of the conflict, where he and his family face the ultimate loss from which they may never recover. The Civil Rights Movement in the South represents one of American history's most important, bloody, and terrifying periods. Seven Laurels takes place during that time, encompassing the years between 1954 and 1994. The novel traces the life of African-American Brewster McAtee, a hardworking and innovative carpenter, as he struggles for his dreams to own land and build a home and respectability in rural Alabama. When the Civil Rights Movement explodes, he is drawn into the core of the conflict, where he and his family face the ultimate loss from which they may never recover.