The Sacred Place: A Novel

About this book

In the summer of 1955 fourteen-year-old Clement enters a general store in Money Mississippi to purchase a soda. Unaware of the consequences of flouting the rules governing black-white relations in the South this Chicago native defies tradition by laying a dime on the counter and turns to depart. Miss Cuthbert the store attendant demands that he place the money in her hand but he refuses declaring "I aint no slave!" and exits with a sense of entitlement unknown to black people at the time. His behavior results in his brutal murder. This event sparks a war in Money forcing the black community to galvanize its strength in pursuit of equality.