The Twelve-Mile Straight

From New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Henderson,an audacious American epic set in rural Georgia during the years of the Depression and Prohibition. Cotton CountyGeorgia1930: in a house full of secretstwo babies-one light-skinnedthe other dark-are born to Elma Jesupa white sharecropperΓÇÖs daughter. Accused of her rapefield hand Genus Jackson is lynched and dragged behind a truck down the Twelve-Mile Straightthe road to the nearby town. In the aftermaththe farmΓÇÖs inhabitants are forced to contend with their complicity in a series of events that left a man dead and a family irrevocably fractured. Despite the prying eyes and curious whispers of the townspeopleElma begins to raise her babies as best as she canunder the roof of her mercurial fatherJukeand with the help of Nanthe young black housekeeper who is as close to Elma as a sister. But soon it becomes clear that the ties that bind all of them together are more intricate than any could have ever imagined. As startling revelations mounta web of lies begins to collapse around the familydestabilizing their precarious world and forcing all to reckon with the painful truth. Acclaimed author Eleanor Henderson has returned with a novel that combines the intimacy of a family drama with the staggering presence of a great Southern saga. Tackling themes of racialized violencesocial divisionand financial crisisThe Twelve-Mile Straight is a startlingly timelyemotionally resonantand magnificent tour de force.