This book joins the list of my favorite kind of Southern story: full of biting wit, family, manners, heat, iced tea, and the past coming back to haunt you. It is a striking and well-drawn coming of age story for three women: a child, a twenty-four-year-old, and a thirty-something, but at the same time it is a mystery and a family drama and a love story and a tale of friendship. I laughed, my heart was touched, I wanted to have breakfast with these characters on their porch. Barrows' writing style could use some work; it was disconcerting every time the point of view switched from first person to third, and her characters do all have heavy internal monologues, but overall it is a book I would highly recommend.