Lula, burning

The novel, Lula, Burning, follows Lula, a fifteen-year-old searching for her worth in a community that has rejected her. Her mother doesn't know how to love her, and Lula's beauty is gone, stolen in the same fire that burned down her father’s house. Lula attempts to protect her younger sister, Ivetta, from the burden of her own beauty, but Ivetta has become a woman. Ivetta's newfound womanhood is noticed by the residents of Sprig Oak, including the stepfather Lula used to adore, a man whose love for God is weaker than his desires. As Ivetta becomes more comfortable in her womanhood, she betrays Lula. Lula's only connections are with her neighbor, Miss Ernestine, a woman who heals with the same garden that conceals her secrets, and Mr. Wallace, the young man ostracized by the residents of Sprig Oak, who remains hidden in the shadows as he attempts to escape his own sins. Lula fights to save her sister in a town burning with judgment, a town where those who reside suffocate beneath the weight of their jealousy, and their personal demons.M.F.A.by Cherita Harrel