First published 1998
Roxana Slade begins her tale at twenty with a single afternoon that shapes everything afterward. She meets a beautiful young man and falls deeply in love, only to watch him drown before her eyes. She marries his older brother and builds what she calls a normal life for white people in the South. She raises several children, endures her husband's affair, battles depression, and watches her parents age and die. Born in 1900, Roxana witnesses a century of change while living what she considers an ordinary existence. She insists she is no saint, facing her troubles with quiet strength and a practical view of the world. Her voice is plainspoken and unsentimental as she reflects on a life she sees as adequately blessed. Through one woman's experiences, the novel captures the sweep of American life across decades of transformation.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, unreliable-narrator
Setting: South
Period: 1900s, 20th-century
Paperback · Scribner