Lena, a shamanistic cat, and her conjure woman Eulalie live in a small town near the Apalachicola River in Florida's lightly populated Liberty County, where longleaf pines own the world. In Eulalie's time, women of color look after white children in the homes of white families and are respected, even loved, but distrusted and kept separated as a group. A palpable gloss, sweeter than the state's prized tupelo honey, holds their worlds firmly apart. When that gloss fails, the Klan restores its own brand of order.

When some white boys rape and murder a black girl named Mattie near the...

Torreya, a small 1950s Florida Panhandle town, is losing its men. They disappear on nights with no moon and no witnesses. Foreclosure signs appear in their yards the following day while thugs associated with the Klan take everything of value from inside treasured homes that will soon be torn down. The police won't investigate, and the church keeps its distance from all social and political discord.

Conjure woman Eulalie Jenkins, her shamanistic cat Lena, and neighbor Willie Tate discover that the new "whites only" policy at the once friendly mercantile and the creation of a...