Crossing Bully Creek (Milkweed National Fiction Prize)

Description

In Crossing Bully Creek, acclaimed author Margaret Erhart chronicles change through generations. As the scion of a large Southern plantation lies dying in the late 1960s, the various people who know him recall his life, including his wife, Rowena; his servant Rutha; his granddaughter; and the plantation manager.

At the story's heart is the owner of Longbrow Plantation, Henry Detroit--now on his deathbed as the 1960s come to a close. Around him swirl servants, retainers, workers, and family, all gathered to preside over his death, and the death of life as they know it in the South.

The book moves back and forth from the 1920s to the 1960s. From Henry's wife Rowena, to the servant Rutha, from his saucy granddaughter to the man running the plantation for his son, characters white and black move through a time when old traditions linger, yet begin to give way--subtly transformed through the small, determined acts.