Second Son: A Novel of the Deep South

Second Son chronicles a poor southern boy's journey to manhood during the final years of the Great Depression and the epic panorama of World War II.

Towanna Whitaker longs to get his education and "be somebody," anything to escape the grinding poverty and desolation of the Mississippi cotton fields. But when his mother abandons the family, he's forced to give up school to care for little Karen, the baby sister she leaves behind. Embracing a homemaker's duties leaves him open to the scorn and...