Net of Jewels

Home for the summer in Dunleith, Alabama, Rhoda Manning's life appears at ease. But the headstrong, passionate 19-year-old refuses to settle for a comfortable, conventional existence. Yearning for a life of profundity, adventure, and beauty, Rhoda breaks from the seemingly secure world of her family to recklessly follow her dreams—but not without tragic and disturbing consequences. A failed marriage, shady abortion, an impulsive decision to sneak into a midnight meeting of the Klan, dates with her shrink, a deluge of booze, and a bout of repentance all seem to vie as the means to Rhoda's own liberation. Gilchrist unflinchingly takes us through the turbulence of Rhoda's formative years, on an outrageous coming-of-age journey of a young white woman in the 1960's South—digging through the bone to reveal the chill of human experience.

PRAISE:

"One of the lies we enjoy telling ourselves is that when we were young, we were crazy and wild. But hey, sensitive, too, and...