Family

All three of the novel's primary characters, and two of the novel's minor characters, are genetically related. Charles Lundon Werren, born abt. 1931 and died 1964, married Ola in the late 1940s. They are both identified as African Americans. Their only child, Diane Werren, was born abt. 1950 in Alabama. When Charles is murdered in 1964, Ola and then-fourteen-year-old Diane move to Little Rock, California. About three years later, Diane leaves home for good and eventually marries an unnamed man and together they have Emily in the late 1970s, living in Cleveland, Ohio. The race of Emily's father is not specified but is implied to be African American. Ola, Diane, and Emily are the principle actors and protagonists in the novel. The Werren family forms the principle family unit and includes all of the significant characters; the family's major events—the murder of Charles, the marriage of Diane, the birth of...