Natchez, Mississippi, in 1933 is a place suspended in time. The silver and china is still dented and cracked from Yankee invaders. And the houses have names....and memories. Nora Bondurant is running awayfrom her husbands death, from his secrets, and from the ghosts that dog her every step. When she receives a telegram informing her that she has an inheritance, Nora suddenly has somewhere to run to: a house named Avoca in Natchez, Mississippi. Now, shes learning that the lure of Natchez runs deep, and that, along with Avoca, shes inherited a mystery. Noras aunt Amalia Bondurant was killed in an apparent murder/suicide, and the locals are saying nothing more. As Nora becomes more and more enmeshed in the community and in her familys history, she learns surprising things about the life and death of her aunt: kinship isnt always what it seems, loyalty can be as fierce as blood relations, and every day we are given new mercies to heal the pain of loss and love.