Laura Chappell is living the happy married life she never believed would happen to her. Single at the age of 31, everyone had given up on her ever getting married. But then she meets Henry, a 41 year old bachelor, marries and has two little girls. Laura is content with her life, living in Memphis close to her large and loving family. All that changes when Henry announces he has bought a cotton farm in the middle of Mississippi. Laura soon finds herself in a shack with no electricity or running water, living with her revoltingly racist father in law. Laura, of course is no stranger to racism but the brutality and poverty she sees in Mississippi shocks and horrifies her. Things soon escalate when her charming brother in law, Jamie, and the son of one of her husband's sharecroppers return from the world war II to work on the farm. Jamie has shed much of his racist beliefs during the war but the old South racists don't take kindly to a black man who knows his own worth. The ending is horrifying and hard to read but worth it. That the author managed to end the book on a note of hope made a little easier to take. Otherwise I might have been overcome with depression.
A good book with lots of great characters. No matter how hateful some of them are. Imagine being black and the only doctor in your town is a KKK member. Imagine knowing anyone can do anything they want to you for any reason and nothing will ever be done about it. That was the reality right here in America for a very long time. I won't go on about how much things have changed because I know there is racism everywhere. But things get better and I have hope.
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