Lizzie's bet with her brother that she won't need help from any man all summer begins as a stand for women's rights in the 1914 setting of this novel, but it becomes hard to keep when Lizzie witnesses a murder and has her own life threatened....
Returning in 1932 to the rural community in Arkansas where she grew up, fifteen-year-old Laurie is torn between staying in the comfortable place she loves and allowing her ambitious mother to aid her burgeoning singing career....