A Cry of Angels: A Novel (Brown Thrasher Books Ser.)

Set in mid-1950s Quarrytown, Georgia, this novel follows life in the Ape Yard, a slum where residents of a boardinghouse pursue hopes for better lives. Earl Whitaker, a white teenager and orphan, and Tio Grant, a black teenager and orphan, are best friends living in the same house. Two significant adults also reside there: Em Jojohn, a Lumbee Indian handyman known for his binges, rat-catching skills, and unexplained absences from town; and Jayell Crooms, a talented but rebellious architect trapped in a loveless marriage to a socially ambitious woman. When Crooms envisions rebuilding the Ape Yard with its own residents, the four become united in a plan that brings them into conflict with Doc Bobo, a small-town figure who controls the community with feudal authority. The novel features distinctly drawn characters and a strong sense of place. This edition marks the republication of the work more than three decades after its original appearance.