Growing up in 'forties and 'fifties America in the town of White Oak lying in the 'gut country' around Chesapeake on the Eastern Seaboard, Freddie Gardiner's life will be honed by the evils of the region that surrounds him and the fates that dog us all - and his approach to life will be fashioned after the wisdom and stoicism of his mother Alice. C. M. Davis' family saga The Lagoon follows Freddie as he grows to adulthood unravelling myths like 'Ole Snakebreath' designed to keep him away from the dangers of the gut area and enduring the painful loss of loved ones. Through the example set by his mother, he overcomes adversity and understands and rejects misguided social blights such as racism. The Lagoon is an absorbing and heart-warming story of growth in the heart of a family reaching across decades of American change.