Together, they live on a peach farm in South Carolina. Since then, the memory of Deborah haunts her while T. Ray remains resentful and bitter. Part of growing up is adapting to changes. Throughout the novel, Lily learns what family really means and discovers that you can find love even in the strangest places. After getting into a fight with T. However, history combined with a fair amount of spunk and resourcefulness on Lily's end soon force her into far more exceptional circumstances.
Lily is a sad soul when we first meet her. She is really feeling the loss of her mother, and she feels a ton of guilt about her death. You see, when Lily was four, she accidentally fired the gun that killed her mom. To make matters worse, Lily's dad is a thoroughly unpleasant dude in fact, Lily's mom had been in the process of leaving him when she died , and his behavior toward Lily ranges from indifference on a good day to contempt on less-good ones.
To say that Lily yearns for a better home life would be a massive understatement. Then, there's the other typical teen angst stuff. Lily doesn't feel like she fits in that well at school. She says:. I worried so much about how I looked and whether I was doing things right, I felt half the time I was impersonating a girl instead of really being one. He did not care that I wore clothes I made for myself in home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below my knees, outfits only the Pentecostal girls wore.
Yikes, pessimistic much? Anyway, hats off to her for her Little House on the Prairie -level sewing skills, but it sounds like a little more parental involvement or at least awareness of Lily's feelings wouldn't have hurt. However, everything changes when she and Rosaleen end up on the lam together.
They head toward Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily believes she can find people who knew her mother. She quickly locates August Boatwright, a local beekeeper who apparently knew her mom, and wrangles an invitation for her and Rosaleen to stay. Still, she doesn't immediately admit whose daughter she is and she leaves out the part about Rosaleen being a fugitive, too.
Lily is actually a talented fibber, we quickly learn. Eventually, Lily comes clean with August about her true identity and intentions in coming to her, and she finally learns more about her mom. Ray must have had a great love for her mother, and that when she left, he developed ill will. At the end of the novel, he realizes that keeping Lily in his house would just remind him of Deborah, so he leaves her with the Boatwrights.
Rosaleen is the Owens' black housekeeper. Her age is unknown, but she is from another city in South Carolina.
She is a spunky woman who deeply cares for Lily. She does not take abuse from anyone, and she ends up getting arrested as a result of her rebellious nature. Lily breaks her out of jail, and the two of them travel together to Tiburon, where they meet the Boatwrights.
Rosaleen becomes fast friends with May Boatwright, and she easily joins the routine of the household. Yet, she encourages Lily to come clean with August, even if it means they will have to abandon their new life in Tiburon.
Throughout the novel, Rosaleen acts as a motherly figure toward Lily. She provides thoughtful advice or a well-timed pat on the knee. Rosaleen promises to stay by Lily's side no matter what she encounters.
Lily, the novel's narrator, is also the story's protagonist. Lily begins the novel at age fourteen, a sad girl who has experienced far more than most have at her age. She lives in Sylvan, South Carolina, with her father, T. Ray, and her housekeeper, Rosaleen. Lily's mother died when she was just four years old, and Lily has a confusing memory about the day that she died. As far as Lily remembers, she shot her mother by accident, which is never denied throughout the novel.
She is ridden by guilt, loss, and confusion about her mother. Ray tells Lily that her mother, Deborah, actually left them. Lily disagrees and runs away.
She and Rosaleen escape to Tiburon, South Carolina, because Lily found this city scratched into her mother's picture of a black Mary. Lily lies about her background in order not to alarm the Boatwrights. The Boatwright sisters welcome Lily and Rosaleen to stay with them, provided that Lily helps with the honey processes. Lily loves her life in Tiburon, keeping bees, and keeping her life a secret.
While living with the Boatwrights, she meets a black boy named Zach, with whom she falls in love. Zach is the first black boy Lily has been attracted to, and eventually he kisses her. Lily realizes that she must come clean to August Boatwright about her background, so she explains everything about her past. In addition, August explains that Lily's mother had stayed at the Boatwright house long ago as well.
Lily learns the whole story of her mother's past, and she is filled with anger, pity, and grief. She eventually comes to terms with her feelings. Finally, T. Ray comes to the Boatwrights' house to take Lily back to Sylvan. Lily persuades him to let her stay with the Boatwrights, with whom she realizes she has many mothers.
Avery Gaston is a police officer nicknamed "Shoe. He allows the white men to beat Rosaleen both outside and inside the jail. Henry, Lily's teacher, helps Lily realize her potential to do more than go to beauty school.
She encourages Lily to pursue her interest in writing in order to begin a career in writing or in academia. Brother Gerald is the Owens' family minister. He finds Lily and Rosaleen resting in his church when they are on their way to town.
He is clearly uncomfortable by the idea of a black woman accompanying a young white girl. Deborah Owens, formerly Deborah Fontanel, is Lily's mother.
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