In the Bough of the Chinaberry Tree Author:Mary Ann Anderson In the Bough of the Chinaberry Tree is the saga of two southern women and their remarkable relationships with each other and the South. The reader is introduced to the two, who are first cousins, when they are teenagers growing up in a closely-knit family in Amberton, a steamy small town in South Georgia. First set in the summer of 1974, a racia... more »lly-charged shooting threatens to rip the small town apart at the seams by dividing neighbor against neighbor, family against family, white against black. Henley Adamson, the story s narrator and perhaps the stronger of the two, flees to New England, not only to attend college, but also to escape from the racist, southern town that she has always called home. The other main character, the stunningly beautiful yet emotionally disturbed Christina Langston, is driven to the very edge of madness by the shooting yet remains in Amberton, having little contact with Henley for more than two decades. In the mid-1990s, Henley eventually returns to Amberton to renew her relationship with Christina, returning to a cousin and a hometown that have undergone complete metamorphoses. Just as Henley returns to her Amberton roots, a sensational murder occurs that unfolds into the ultimate crime of passion. While Henley and Christina must once again learn about each other, they also must learn about the mindset of those who live in small towns when faced with crimes of such magnitude. In the Bough of the Chinaberry Tree is a fictional examination of the small town, rural South that has been romanticized, and oftentimes satirized, in other novels. Complete with dysfunctional families, murder, deception, gossip all the elements of the grand, sultry South the story will stay with you long after you have finished the last page.« less