Set in 1950s Louisiana, Mandy Mikulencak's beautifully written and
emotionally moving novel evokes both The Help and Dead Man Walking
with the story of an unforgettable woman whose quest to provide meals
for death row prisoners leads her into the secrets of her own past.
Many children have grown up in the shadow of Louisiana's Greenmount
State Penitentiary. Most of them--sons and daughters of corrections
officers and staff--left as soon as they could. Yet Ginny Polk chose to
come back to work as a prison cook. She knows the harsh reality of life
within those walls--the cries of men being beaten, the lines of
shuffling inmates chained together. Yet she has never seen them as
monsters, not even those sentenced to execution. That's why Ginny has
taken on a special responsibility: preparing their last meals.
Pot roast or red beans and rice, coconut cake or pork neck stew . . .
whatever the men ask for Ginny prepares, even meeting with their
heartbroken relatives to get each recipe just right. The prison board
frowns upon the ritual, as does Roscoe Simms, Greenmount's Warden. Her
daddy's best friend before he was murdered, Roscoe has always watched
out for Ginny, and their friendship has evolved into something deep and
unexpected. But when Ginny stumbles upon information about the man
executed for killing her father, it leads to a series of dark and
painful revelations. Truth, justice, mercy--none of these are as simple
as Ginny once believed. And the most shocking crimes may not be the ones
committed out of anger or greed, but the sacrifices we make for love.
"A haunting study of race relations, compassion, and mystery. A must
read."
--Library Journal (Starred Review)
