Review by Booklist Review
Morris follows the highly acclaimed All Her Little Secrets (2021) with a stunning novel about two Black sisters on the run, one victimized by an egregious crime and both guilty of simply wanting better lives for themselves. It is the summer of 1964 in Jackson, Mississippi, and the backlash to federal legislation meant to help Black people has often made their lives worse. Violet Richards has killed the white man who raped her and run away with her wealthy boyfriend, who is also white. She manages to steal his wallet and get on a bus to DC. Panicked after a Black man is beaten and pulled off the bus by police, Violet leaves the vehicle, too, and settles in Chillicothe, Georgia, under a new name. Meanwhile, Violet's older sister, Marigold Richards, is abandoned in Jackson by the man who made her pregnant and leaves for Cleveland, but she is pursued by a dangerous man willing to do anything for the money he needs to save his own family. These parallel stories of hiding and pursuit, which lead to an amazing conclusion, are told in the different but equally compelling voices of Violet and Marigold, each filled with its own fear and pain. This riveting and moving novel, with echoes of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, is highly recommended for fans of suspense and women's fiction.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The notorious 1964 murder of three civil rights activists in Mississippi provides the backdrop for Morris's stunning sophomore novel (after 2021's All Her Little Secrets), which revolves around two Black sisters' relationship while exploring racism, family, and small-town sensibilities. The quiet life of Violet Richards and her older sister, Marigold, ends when Violet kills the white man who raped her. Knowing that as a Black woman in the Jim Crow South she won't be treated fairly, Violet sneaks out of Jackson, Miss., with her wealthy white boyfriend before abandoning him in Alabama to catch a Greyhound bus that takes her to Chillicothe, Ga. Meanwhile, Marigold, who dreams of becoming a lawyer, works for the Mississippi Summer Project to help Blacks register to vote. She ends up in Ohio after quickly marrying her dim-witted boyfriend, having become pregnant by another man. The suspense ramps up as powerful forces target each sister because she unwittingly possesses damaging evidence. Meticulous research about the era informs the gripping plot, which alternates between each sister's point of view. Finely sculpted characters and crisp dialogue help make this a standout. Morris is a writer to watch. Agent: Lori Galvin, Aevitas Creative Management. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Morris's (All Her Little Secrets) second novel is a historical thriller set in Jim Crow Mississippi. Sisters violet and Marigold are the only surviving members of the Richards family. Twenty-two-year-old Violet has always been unconventional, doing what she wants when she wants; she knows she was a disappointment to her parents. Her older sister Marigold has long been the "good girl"--good grades in school, no sex before marriage, adhering to their mama's admonishment to "become invisible" around white people. Marigold now works for the Mississippi Summer Project, dedicated to ensuring that Black people are allowed to vote after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. When Violet kills a white man in self-defense, she flees Jackson, leaving Marigold behind. What she doesn't realize is that Marigold is pregnant, and the father left her to fend for herself. As Jackson police investigate the murder of the man who assaulted Violet, Marigold realizes she must leave Mississippi too. But moving north creates another set of problems. Beautifully rendered prose written in the vernacular of a small Mississippi town will immerse readers in the lives of two sisters trying to survive. VERDICT In this viscerally frightening novel of the Jim Crow era, Morris writes a stunning, heartbreaking portrayal of being Black in the 1960s U.S. South.--K.L. Romo
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two sisters find danger when they try to run from their secrets in the civil rights--era South. Violet Richards is in trouble. As a young Black woman in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964, she knows she's courting danger by dating a White man, a rich man's son she doesn't really love. Then another White man rapes her. The police don't care. When the rapist threatens her again, she kills him and goes on the run, unknowingly taking something of her boyfriend's that turns out to be a powder keg. Violet's younger sister, Marigold, also has a boyfriend she doesn't love, and a secret lover as well. The lover abandons her when she tells him she's pregnant, just about the time police come to the family home looking for Violet. Marigold sees little reason to stay in Jackson--the oldest Richards sister, Rose, died years before in an accident, and both of their parents have died recently. So Marigold gives in to her boyfriend's marriage proposal and plan to move to Cleveland. Neither sister's escape goes as expected, especially after Violet's abandoned beau hires a man named Mercer Buggs to find her. Buggs is an inept detective, but he manages to put both Violet and Marigold in mortal danger. As their stories converge in the small town of Chillicothe, Georgia, Morris builds the tension, alternating the narrative among Violet, Marigold, and Buggs. She deftly ties the sisters' situation to a real-life tragedy of the civil rights movement--the murders of Freedom Summer volunteers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner--and to the inherent violence of the racism behind it. Despite a somewhat rushed ending, this thriller offers complex characters and a well-crafted portrait of time and place. Tense plotting and an authentic historical setting enhance a thriller about racial violence. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
