First published 2010
Luke May stands before his history classroom in a small Mississippi Delta town, teaching students about events they never lived through. The civil rights era feels distant to these young faces, though Luke remembers being a boy in 1962 when James Meredith's arrival at Ole Miss sparked violent confrontations. Luke's ordered life shifts when a friend from his past appears without warning. She carries with her memories of a brutal act that destroyed her childhood years ago. Her return forces Luke to examine his own connection to that violence. He discovers that his ties to the past reach deeper than he suspected. The town holds secrets about family betrayals and forbidden relationships. Political tensions from decades past still simmer beneath the surface. Luke must face truths about his community and himself that challenge everything he thought he understood about his history.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, thriller, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: past-coming-back-to-haunt, secrets-and-lies
Setting: Mississippi Delta, Ole Miss
Period: 1962, Civil Rights Era
272 pages · Kindle Edition · Vintage
Content warnings: racism