James Kingsman hated the South. Raised by parents who had migrated north from Alabama years before his birth, he had heard their personal stories of racism, injustice, and fear. At best, he carried a certain disdain for those who stayed behind, no matter how much the South had changed. When James reluctantly agrees to his mother’s last wish to be buried in her ancestral home, his notions about southern relatives are turned upside down. As are long-hidden discoveries about his parents. His father did not migrate north, he escaped. His mother kept an even deeper secret, one of rage and beauty. 2021.