Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The author of the book, Rawlings is known in the Cross Creek community as Little Miss. She is a complex character by her own admission. She employs the local black people, or "Negroes" as she calls them, to work on the property she has inherited, which is a small farm with an orange grove. She is clearly better educated and wealthier than anyone in the region and, although mostly tolerant, kind and non-judgmental, there are hints of condescension in her descriptions of others in the community.

Rawlings has a unique insight into the realm of nature and closely observes the patterns of behavior demonstrated by the wildlife and plant life around her. In this book, which is highly autobiographical, she carefully and beautifully describes the flora and fauna around her, as well as the personalities of people in her world. She lets us know that the...