Civil Townsend

Civil Townsend is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. In the narrative present, Civil is 67 years old. She lives in Memphis, and has spent the majority of her career working as a doctor. One day in 2016, Civil learns that one of her former patients, India Williams, is sick. The news reminds Civil of her complex relationship with India and her sister Erica years prior. Reflecting on her involvement in the girls’ lives and medical procedures, Civil realizes that she needs to tell her adopted daughter Anne about the ways in which her “story is tied up with [the] sisters” (4). She also makes the decision “to head south” to visit the Williams sisters (4). On Civil’s drive from Memphis to Montgomery, she stops in various cities, including Jackson and Birmingham, in order to visit her old friends and acquaintances. She visits with an old...