Lost innocence. Betrayal. Smalltown secrets. It all adds up to necessary lies. It always starts with the loss of innocence. Life had plenty to offer beautiful seventeen-year-old Cliffie Flowers in 1953 backwoods Georgia before she got pregnant by a local lothario whose conquests also included her sister. Fearing the disappointment of her adoring father, Cliffie lies to conceal her downfall as the golden girl who might have been the hope of her poor family. But her deception leads to far worse trouble. “Janice Daugharty is a born story-teller. Her voice is a finely honed 'Southern' voice that is warm, vibrant, and original; her characters seem to leap from the page, fully imagined in a sentence or two. Best of all, her fiction is rich with surprises. Each story is like a wild, improvised ride that takes us to an unexpected destination.” —Joyce Carol Oates “Janice Daugharty is a natural-born writer.” —Pat Conroy “Daugharty once again has succeeded in creating a suspenseful, well-written narrative around an unusual plot line.” —Library Journal Janice Daugharty’s 1997 novel, EARL IN THE YELLOW SHIRT (HarperCollins) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels and two short story collections. She serves as writer-in-residence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia. Visit the author at JaniceDaugharty.com