Liars Bench

In the bestselling tradition of The Secret Life of Bees, Liars Bench is an atmospheric, compulsively readable tale full of heart and history, set in 1970s Kentucky and exploring civil rights and family secrets. In 1972 on Mudas Summers seventeenth birthday, her beloved mama, Ella, is found hanging from the rafters of their home. Most people in Peckinpaw, Kentucky, assume that Ellas no-good husband did the deed. Others think Ella grew tired of his abuse and did it herself. Muddy is determined to find out for sure either way, especially once she finds strange papers hidden among her mamas possessions. But Peckinpaw keeps its secrets buried deep. Muddys almost-more-than-friend, Bobby Marshall, knows that better than most. Though he passes for white, one of his ancestors was Frannie Crow, a slave hanged a century ago on nearby Hark Hill Plantation. Adorning the town square is a seat built from Frannies gallows; a tribute, a relicand a cautionits known as Liars Bench. The answers Muddy seeks soon lead back to Hark Hill, to hatred and corruption that have echoed through the years, and to lies she must be brave enough to confront at last. Kim Michele Richardsons lush, beautifully written debut is set against a southern backdrop passing uneasily from bigotry and brutality to hope. With its compelling mystery and complex yet relatable heroine, Liars Bench is a story of first love, raw courage, and truths that wont be denied.