When Odessa Blackburn is first left in Mississippi to negotiate a new life with her ostracized mother Ella Mae, the strains of family propaganda, puberty, and life away from her siblings make for compounded heartache. Odessa and Ella Mae must negotiate toward patience and a new way of loving without violence. Soon mother and daughter build a bridge out of their broken lives over which Odessa's oldest brother Lamont crosses. The novel blossoms...