Set in 1936, Angela Jackson-Brown’s latest novel follows the journey of Opal Pruitt who is not only navigating new adulthood, but also the residual effects of Reconstruction—which includes unprovoked beatings and property burnings by the Ku Klux Klan. Despite these struggles, Opal’s town of Parsons, Georgia is preparing for its annual Founder’s Day celebration, but when the underlying tension begins to erupt in the heat, everything is at risk of changing.