Alligator Lake
by Lynne Bryant

A summer wedding calls Avery Pritchett home. Back to the fertile Mississippi Delta she left ten years ago. Back to the family that sent her away...

As a pregnant teenager, Avery Pritchett found refuge in Colorado, but now, ten years later, her brother’s wedding — and some burning questions — bring her back home to her small Southern town.

But will introducing her mixed-race daughter to her eccentric grandmother bring solace or sorrow?

Will confronting her class-conscious mother allow for new beginnings or confirm old resentments? And how can she ask for forgiveness of her lover from her youth who has been denied his child all these years?

As the summer progresses, Avery’s return provokes shocking discoveries — of choices made, and secrets kept, and of deceptions that lie closer than she suspects.

Other Books by Lynne Bryant

Catfish Alley

Lynne Bryant's Bio

I was born and raised in rural Mississippi, where my maternal grandparents farmed cotton and my mother is one of their fifteen children. I grew up during the era of the Civil Rights Movement and came of age during the volatile integration of Mississippi’s schools. I attended nursing school at Mississippi University for Women, and then went on to complete both a masters in nursing from Ole Miss and a PhD in nursing from the University of Colorado. I now teach nursing full-time in Colorado, but the home of my heart will always be Mississippi.

I came to writing later in life, finally allowing myself to unleash a love of storytelling and a lifetime of struggling to understand the complex race relations in Mississippi. My stories tackle issues most Southerners can identify with, and, like me, have struggled to understand. My debut novel, Catfish Alley, will be released by NAL/Penguin in spring 2011. Contemporary stories defined by the context of Southern history continue to intrigue me as I work on my second novel. Writing is my way to wrestle with what I can’t explain and I am compelled to do that through the voices and stories of the American South.