Georgia Burke

Anna Lucasta has been walking the streets in San Diego since being thrown out of home, at 19, by her alcoholic father, Joe. She's estranged from her family, but when her father and brother-in-law see greedy potential in an arranged marriage to affluent Rudolph, Anna is called back home. Old wounds have hardly healed, though. Just as Anna starts to feel for Rudolph, Danny, an old friend, returns to make life difficult.

A tale of greed, one-upmanship, family distrust, abuse, apathy, and lost love, set in the deep south at the turn of the twentieth century.

Life in a black ghetto isn't easy for 14-year-old Billie Jean Sims, who has a father in jail, a blind grandmother, and a brother with a drug habit. Growing up among drug pushers, prostitutes, and pimps, Billie Jean still has some things going for her: fierce pride, a loyal friend named Fish, and, at last, enough savings to visit her father 1200 miles away in prison.