Book 1 in the Edenville Series
Betty Grafton tells her daughter and granddaughter about her youth; in the 1960s Beatrice is a young white girl living in the Southern USA, her father is in the KKK. Beatrice gave a Black man something to drink, and her entire community speaks ill of it.
One day, after school, Beatrice sees a white boy chasing a little Black girl with a bat. Beatrice doesn’t think twice and helps the girl escape. When they get to her house, the girl, Alma, asks her mother Winnie to give Beatrice something to drink. The Black family nicknames her Betty and now Betty goes to see Winnie and her family every few days after school.
When Winnie and some other Black teachers become teachers at Betty’s school, everyone in the town appears to be opposed to it. There are demonstrations against it, and when the National Guard is called in, the new Black teachers are finally in the classrooms with the children.
At the school dance, the KKK decides to confront the Black teachers who are chaperoning. Several of them and some of the children die due to this. Thankfully Winnie gets away and soon after she moves away.
This book was so difficult to read. I cannot fathom how white people thought (and some still do) of Black people. It made me sick to my stomach. And also curious what came after this period in Betty’s life.
Read for the ShelfReflection Reading Challenge 2025
Prompt 11: Two books by two different authors with the same last name (2)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
