Super Short Summary

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith, published in 1988, is an epistolary novel chronicling the life of Ivy Rowe, a Virginia mountain girl, through her letters from childhood in the early 1900s to her death in the 1970s. Ivy faces numerous challenges, writes vividly about her life, dreams of an education, deals with family responsibilities, love, heartbreak, and personal growth as she navigates her complex world. The book contains themes of sexual assault, pregnancy, grief, and marital issues.