Beth Macy, master chronicler of life in the South, combines exhaustive research, exclusive interviews and sources, and attention to detail in this riveting American story about race, greed, and a mother's love. George and Willie Muse from Truevine, Virginia were two little boys born in a brutal time, sharecropping a field in the segregated South, stolen away by a white man offering candy, and set on a path of events that would forever change their lives--and their family's destiny. -- adapted from dust jacket.

Prologue: I am the true vine -- Sit down and shut up -- White peoples is hateful -- And still the cry against us continues -- Your momma is dead -- Some serious secrets -- A paying proposition -- He who hustleth while he waiteth -- Comma, colored -- The prodigal son -- Not one single, solitary red penny -- Adultery's siamese twin -- Housekeeping! -- Practically imbeciles -- Very good old colored woman -- Wilbur and John -- God is good to me -- Epilogue: markers.