

Nora’s aunt Amalia Bondurant was killed in a murder/suicide, and the locals are saying nothing more except in hushed, honeyed tones. Now, she’s learning that the lure of Natchez runs deep, and that, along with Avoca, she’s inherited a mystery. When she receives a telegram informing her that she has an inheritance, Nora suddenly has somewhere to run to: a house named Avoca in Natchez, Mississippi.

Nora Bondurant is running away from her husband’s death, from his secrets, and from the ghosts that dog her every step. The silver and china is still dented and cracked from Yankee invaders.

Natchez, Mississippi, in 1933 is a place suspended in time. Sandra Dallas has created an unforgettable tale of a friendship between two women, one with surprising twists and turns, and one that is ultimately a revelation of the finest parts of the human spirit. The harsh conditions of life that each has endured create an instant bond, and a friendship is born, one in which the deepest of hardships are shared and the darkest of secrets are confessed. Hennie doesn t actually take money for her prayers, never has, but she invites the skinny girl in anyway. One day she notices an old sign that reads Prayers for Sale in front of Hennie s house. Nit and her husband have come to this small mining town in search of work, but the loneliness and loss Nit feels are almost too much to bear. When she first meets seventeen year old Nit Spindle, Hennie is drawn to the grieving young girl. Up in the high country of the snow covered Rocky Mountains, eighty six year old Hennie Comfort has lived in Middle Swan, Colorado, since before it was Colorado.

It’s 1936 and the Great Depression has taken its toll. From the critically acclaimed author of Tallgrass comes a powerful novel about an unlikely friendship between two women and the secrets they ve kept in order to survive life in a rugged Colorado mining town.
