From the acclaimed author whose historical fiction has been compared
to The Help, comes a powerful and ultimately uplifting novel that
tells the story of three generations of women in 1970s Mississippi after
their lives are thrown into upheaval when a dark secret is brutally
exposed . . .
On a hot, humid July morning, sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering calmly
and deliberately shoots her father in the back.
To their Mississippi community, the death of well-regarded attorney
Richard Pickering is a fascinating scandal. To Cissy's distraught
mother, Caroline, it's an unforgivable crime. But in Cissy's troubled
mind, it was the only way she knew to save her younger sisters, the two
people she loves most in the world.
Janelle Clayton, the family's matriarch, has kept her distance from her
daughter, Caroline--a fact she now regrets--yet she hopes to do right by
her granddaughter, whom she believes implicitly. When Cissy is remanded
to the Greater Mississippi State Hospital, new revelations drive her to
retreat from reality. It will fall to Janelle to become Cissy's advocate
and rescuer. And over the course of an unlikely road trip, Janelle and
Cissy will confront the truths they've hidden from the world and
themselves--finding courage, resilience, and a bond tender and tough
enough to transform them both.
"Mikulencak tackles the complex ramifications of abuse, from unwanted
notoriety to complex questions of who is responsible, with grace and
empathy. . . . Forgiveness Road is haunting and poignant."
--Booklist
