Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else.

Who knew heartbreak would be so goddamn hot.

...My sister Doreena who never lifted a royal finger growing up because she had the heart defect that we later found out was a fly on the X-ray machine.

It seems like at some point you'd run out of awful.

And you call yourself a Christian,' were Hilly's words to me and I thought, God. When did I ever do that?

And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

I'm pretty sure I can say that no one in my family ever asked Demetrie what it felt like to be black in Mississippi, working for our white family. It never occurred to us to ask. It was everyday life. It wasn't something people felt compelled to examine. I have wished, for many years, that I'd been old enough and thoughtful enough to ask Demetrie that question. She died when I was sixteen. I've spent years imagining what her answer would be. And that is why I wrote this book.