Searching for an escape from mediocrity, the young heroine of The Clam Shell leaves her hometown of Canona, West Virginia, and enters a Southern women's college. She is not destined for the safe path, however; her brutal awakening comes in the form of a violent sexual assault through which she ultimately discovers her own hidden strength. Set in 1936, The Clam Shell continues the mesmerizing story Settle began in The Love Eaters.