Beyond Molasses Creek

When Ally Green's father passes on and leaves her the home she grew up in on Molasses Creek, Ally retires from her globe trotting and decides to give living in one place a chance. With her returning to her childhood home, memories resurface of growing up during the Civil Rights Movement. Now that things have changed for the better in her home town, she feels that she can once again be friends with Vesey Washington, the boy from the other side of the river.

Poetic and poignant, I was quickly swept into this well written novel. The characters are well written, with plenty of back story to breath life into them. Not only is this a story of the Civil Rights movement, but it is also the tale of a young woman growing up in Nepal who grows up in the Dalit (untouchable) caste. Sunila must work for a stone carver to pay a "debt" her parents incurred, showing the injustice of child labor in third world countries (something that needs to be brought to our attention). The stories tie together to tell a tale of forgiveness and hope in the midst of suffering.

I couldn't put this book down! I highly recommend it and will be looking to read more books by this author.