Mudbound

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan has been on my reading list for a while, so when I found a discounted hardcover I snatched it up.

Laura believes she is destined to be a spinster, teaching school and being aunt in Memphis in the 1940s. But when she meets Henry McAllan her plans change and they are quickly married. Laura is happy living in Memphis caring for her two girls and her husband until her husband comes home and tells her that he has purchased a farm in the Mississippi Delta.

Laura's life quickly changes at the farm, which she and the girls name "Mudbound" since it is always muddy and the bridge into town becomes impassable with every rain. The farm has no indoor plumbing or any other modern comforts.

Life at the farm is complicated by Pappy, Henry's racist, mean-spirited father; Jamie, Henry's brother who returns from the war with traumatizing memories; Hap and Florence Jackson the black share farmers on the land; Ronsel, the Jackson's son who has also returned from Europe where his race didn't matter like it does in the Delta.

Add in alcoholism, a love affair and the Klu Klux Klan and the story quickly speeds to the climax and a tragic outcome that leaves no one at Mudbound unchanged.

A great story and wonderfully written from the perspective of each of the major characters.