The Twelve-Mile Straight

In "The Twelve-Mile Straight," bestselling author Eleanor Henderson unfolds an audacious American epic set in rural Georgia during the Depression and Prohibition. The story revolves around Elma Jesup, a white sharecropper's daughter, who faces profound challenges after the lynching of a field hand wrongfully accused of raping her. As Elma raises her two babies—one light-skinned and the other dark—with the help of her black housekeeper, Nan, the family's secrets unravel, exposing deep social divisions and enabling a powerful exploration of racialized violence and complicity in the face of tragedy. This gripping narrative blends the intimacy of a family drama with the grand scale of Southern history.