"All but one of the stories are set in Alabama. They deal with dramatic turning points in the lives of people who happen to be southerners, many juxtaposed between Old South sensibility and manners and New South modernity and expectations. Among these characters is a new widow uncomforted by well-meaning, proselytizing Christians; a middle-aged waitress in love with the town "catch"; a bedridden belle dependent upon her black nurse; a "special" young man in a newspaper shop; a young faculty wife who attempts generosity with a lower-class neighbor; and a lawyer caught in the dilemma of race issues."--BOOK JACKET.