This is a novel with some mighty strong women in it. Parts of the book are narrated by Darl Union, who at the start of the book is a young girl and sole heir to her family’s substantial fortune. Darl’s childhood relationship with Eli Wade and their later reunion drive the story forward, but the emotional center of the book resides with the women of an earlier generation–Darl’s grandmother, Swan Hardigee, Swan’s best friend, Matilda, and Darl’s great aunt, Clara. Clara’s arrival back in Burnt Stand, North Carolina, a town that Darl’s grandmother controls, precipitates twin tragedies that haunt Darl for the next twenty five years. Darl builds a life away from Burnt Stand as a successful defense attorney, but when she reunites with Eli she knows that she must return to her hometown and confront her family’s tangled past. Darl must discover if she has her ancestors’ strength without their heartlessness.
Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.
