Cane Cob & Chimney Jewett are young Georgia sharecroppers held under the thumb of their God-fearing father Pearl When he dies unexpectedly they set out on horseback for Canada robbing & looting their way to wealth & infamy But little goes to plan & soon they're pursued by both the authorities & the stories emanating from their trail of destruction
- making the Jewett Gang out to be the most fearsome trio of murdering bank robbers in the Midwest The truth though is far more complex than the legend & the heaven they've imagined may in fact be worse than the hell they sought to escape