Dreams of Idlewild is a generational novel that traces the haunting legacy of one American family through a century of conflict, duty, and identity—told through the eyes of a present-day descendant trying to make sense of the lives that came before him. It begins with a Confederate private captured at Gettysburg, a young man whose loyalty fractures under the weight of a brutal war. His silence echoes forward to a logistics clerk during World War I—eager to enlist, but kept home by necessity. Thwarted and restless, he finds purpose and mystery in the rituals of Freemasonry, where he searches for meaning in a world that won’t let him fight. Years later, a college football coach wrestles with battles not on the field, but within his own bloodline—his brother, a World War II veteran, embodies a path he never took. As "Coach" watches his brother slowly drift away, his life becomes a quiet war of principles, legacy, and what it means to be a man in a country still defining itself. In the present day, a weary soldier who has served in both the Navy and the Army carries the burden of experience and the weight of a family history written in uniforms. He is the last in the line—until his great-great-grandson, a writer, begins to unearth their stories. Through journals, letters, Masonic symbols, and fading photographs, the writer pieces together their lives—not to judge, but to understand. What emerges is a portrait of American manhood shaped by war, tradition, and silence—and the hope that memory might finally bring peace. Dreams of Idlewild is about the stories we bury, the ones we pass down, and the dream of becoming something more than what history made us.