In the backwoods of Mississippi, Jewel and he rhusband are truly blessed; they have five fine children. When Brenda Kay is born in 1943, Jewel gives thanks for a healthy baby, last-born and most welcome.

JEWEL is the story of how quickly a life can change; how an unforseen event can set us on a course without reason or compass. In this story of a woman’s devotion to the child who is both her burden and God’s singlular way of smiling on her, Bret Lott has created a mother-daughter relationship of matchless intensity and beauty, and one of the finest, most indomitable heroines in contemporary American fiction.