Absalom's Daughters

In this nod to Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!, Cassie, a light-skinned African American girl, and her white half-sister, Judith, could easily be Absalom's daughters. Both girls, uneducated and dirt-poor, live in a small town in 1950s Mississippi. Though born to the same white father and different mothers, the girls did not know of their relationship until their father abandoned Judith and her mother, forcing Judith to make deliveries to Cassie's family laundry. Judith has a powerful singing voice and dreams of becoming a singer on the radio, and Cassie struggles with a grandmother who schemes to arrange her marriage. When a letter arrives from a distant relative suggesting the girls may be in line for an inheritance if they arrive in Remington, VA, by a specified date, Judith is determined to go: fame awaits. With her mother's blessing, Cassie leaves to avoid her grandmother's plan. Escaping in an old junk car, they head north on a road trip, encountering kindness and hostility. The girls are given the opportunity to look forward in their lives, and arriving at their destination provides some answers and allows each young woman to create her own future. The use of the derogatory term for African Americans may offend some teen readers, but it is contextual and well within the culture of its time. Thematically, it helps to explain Cassie's thoughts about herself and her feelings about being a young woman of color.