Cassie Dandridge Selleck

This novella set in a small town in Florida explores a white woman's conscience and consciousness in the late 1970's as she and her black maid come at some ugly truths with distinctly different approaches. When a black child is raped and the white teenager responsible is stabbed to death, Mrs. Ora Beckwith, a recent widow with an outlook she considers enlightened, believes she knows the best way to handle things. Some of her solutions, though, are rejected outright by the individuals she tries to help, and others have long-term consequences she could never have anticipated. The story begins in the country's bicentennial year, and is told by Miss Ora 25 years later, when she is the last of the principals still living. She feels the need to clear her conscience by telling the truth that only she knows about the "Pecan Man" who has died in prison serving 25 to life for the murder. Miss Ora's self-examination and soul-searching are the point of the story, and well played out on the page. The motivations of other characters are more subtly presented, sometimes barely hinted at, but just as clear upon close reading, and equally important to the impact of this brief, moving tale.
Review written in 2015… (mere)