Summary

In Movement I, Part I, Sarah Broom writes about her family's history from before she was born. She begins with her grandmother Amelia, known as Lolo who was born in Louisiana 1915 or 1916. Orphaned at a young age, Lolo lived with her eldest sister in New Orleans until she moved to a boarding house as a teenager. There she met Sarah McCutcheon who would become a surrogate mother to her. Lolo had an appreciation for well-presented and good tasting food as well as for the beautiful things in life. As a young woman, she began a relationship with a married man, Lionel Soule, who would father her three children, Joseph, Elaine, and Ivory Mae, but who was not present in their lives.

Part II: Lolo wanted to provide nice homes for her children such as she never had. She instilled a sense of...