Big City Girl — Charles Williams

Her husband in jail, a desperate young woman takes refuge among sharecroppers

Once, Cass Neely's farm stretched across the entire valley, but decades of bad decisions and rotten luck have forced him to sell off nearly every inch. He and his son farm the meager remains of a once-great property, living in a grim downward spiral -- until Cass's daughter-in-law, Joy, moves in. She's by far the most beautiful thing this county has ever seen, but she's flat broke since her husband, Sewell, was put away for armed robbery. She's also prickly, lazy, and vain -- traits that don't sit well with hardscrabble living -- and it isn't long before she starts to get a violent case of cabin fever.

As the rains bear down and the river starts to threaten the cotton, Sewell escapes from police custody and heads for home. Come hell or high water, the Neely family will stick together, even if it means disaster.