Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but that doesn't mean she can't put in a good stitch. In fact, Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things are going wrong. But when Mama gets deathly ill, it doesn't seem like even quilting will help. Mama needs medicine badly-medicine that can only be found in Camden, over forty miles away. That's when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic-leave Gee's Bend. Beyond the cotton fields of her small sharecropping community, Ludelphia discovers a world she never imagined, but there's also danger lurking for a young girl on her own. Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting traditions of Gee's Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee's Bend is a delightful story of a young girl facing a brave new world, presented in a new paperback edition.
"Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham shows that a rural black farming community may be poor in possessions but is still rich in what matters most: courage, loyalty and love."
Huntsville Times
"Ludelphia Bennett reaffirms the human spirit and defines survival in this beautifully stitched quilt of a novel."
Richard Peck, author of A Season of Gifts
"The story soars due to Latham's lovely prose and Ludelphia Bennett, its wonderfully spunky heroine."
