These interlocking stories begin with foundation tales of the migration of JJ, his wife Naomi, and their son Otis from their chaotic family beginnings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to their settlement in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the 1920s. Gish recalls a world where although the workings of Providence are hard to fathom and their outcome is often hard to bear.
Fiction. These interlocking stories cover the migration of JJ, his wife Naomi, and their son Otis from their family beginnings in Tulsa to their settlement in Albuquerque; Otis' coming of age amid the shifting fortunes of his family and friends; and events in other peoples' lives at the same place and time. Gish creates a world where the workings of Providence are hard to fathom and their outcome often hard to bear, though we must accept them because our lives are built upon them. From the Tulsa race riots of 1921 to Buck's last coon hunt, the reader never finds a place to rest, though rough justice is always at work. "These are authentic and poignant blues whose melodies will play in your mind long after the book is finished"--John Nichols.
