The Queen of Palmyra: A Novel [Paperback]

“The most powerful and also the most lyrical novel about race, racism, and denial in the American South sinceTo Kill a Mockingbird.”
— Lee Smith, author ofOn Agate Hill

“Exquisitely beautiful… The novel grips the reader from its first page and relentlessly drives us to its conclusion.”
— William Ferris, author ofGive My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues

An atmospheric debut novel about growing up in the changing South in 1960s Mississippi in the tradition of Sue Monk Kidd’sThe Secret Life of Beesand Kathryn Stockett’sThe Help. In the words of Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes), “Minrose Gwin is an extremely gifted writer andThe Queen of Palmyrais a brilliant and compelling novel.”

I need you to understand how ordinary it all was. . . .

In the turbulent southern summer of 1963, Millwood's white population steers clear of Shake Rag, the black section of town. Young Florence Forrest is one of the few who crosses the line. The daughter of a burial insurance salesman with dark secrets and the town's cake lady, whose backcountry bootleg runs lead further and further away from a brutal marriage, Florence attaches herself to her grandparents' longtime maid, Zenie Johnson. Named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, Zenie treats the unwanted girl as just another chore, while telling her stories of the legendary queen's courage and cunning.

The more time Florence spends in Shake Rag, the more she recognizes how completely race divides her town, and her story, far from ordinary, bears witness to the truth and brutality of her times—a truth brought to a shattering conclusion when Zenie's vibrant college-student niece, Eva Greene, arrives that fateful Mississippi summer.

Minrose Gwin'sThe Queen of Palmyrais an unforgettable evocation of a time and a place in America—a nuanclE