The Dry Grass of August by Mayhew 5 Stars

It is August 1954 in Charlotte N. Carolina. Jubie Watts, her mother, Paula, her sisters Stella and Puddin, her brother Davie and her black maid, Mary take a road trip to Panama City Florida to visit her mother’s brother Taylor, an officer in the Navy. The country is in the throws of societal changes. The anger of Southern whites who see their way of life being destroyed is palpable. Jubie adores Mary who loves her unconditionally. Uncle Taylor is not as prejudiced against negroes as the townspeople where he lives and tries to ameliorate the more obvious signs of racism around him. Still he is not without prejudice nor is Paula. Jubie’s father, Bill Watts, beats her and favors the other siblings particularly her more feminine and attractive sister, Stella. Bill had been unfaithful to Paula repeatedly, and is a functioning alcoholic with a successful business pouring concrete with his brother, Stamos. Mary soothes June (Jubie) and acts as a buffer for the alcoholic rages of her father and the benign neglect of her mother. Jubie adores Mary and sees her for the, dignified, loving, intelligent and much put upon person that she is. As the family travels south crammed into their Packard, June notices the deepening restrictions and exclusions for persons of color. She feels pain as she sees the segregationist signs precluding Mary’s admittance in restaurants, motels, and other public arenas. Mrs. Watts like her brother Taylor appears sympathetic too and does not seem to share all the southern prejudices against blacks. However, Paula still insists Mary and other negroes use a special bathroom in the basement of her home and chooses not to share the more convenient up to date family bathrooms with them. On the return trip and prior to a detour to Pawley Island, the family is involved in an accident. They are forced to stay over in a small southern town while their car is repaired. Stella , Jubie, and Mary decide to attend a religious tent rally for a big charismatic African church in the area. On their return something terrible happens and their lives are never the same again. Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird we watch Mary conduct herself in difficult times with love and dignity. Off all the adults portrayed she is perhaps the most dignified. Still her exemplary life does not protect her from the horrors of the day. Told in the voice of 13 year old Jubie, this is a book that is hard to put down.