When the Jessamine Grows

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of pregnancy loss, enslavement, and anti-Black racism. The source material also contains racist language.

Thirty-four-year-old Joetta McBride is a yeoman farmer living in Nash County, North Carolina, with her husband Ennis, their two sons, Henry and Robert, and Ennis’s father, Rudean McBride in 1861. She dreads the growing conflict between the North and the South, and she and Ennis wish to remain neutral. However, Rudean, a former soldier and proud supporter of the Confederacy, excitedly tells his grandsons wartime stories. Joetta dislikes him glorifying war and omitting the truth about its horrors. Rudean tells the boys that they should seek money and get plantations using enslaved labor instead of farming themselves. Ennis tells Joetta the boys are developing and she should not worry about Rudean. 

The following morning, Rudean brings up the conflict and his distrust of Lincoln, and Ennis tells him he wants a peaceful breakfast. His father states the family needs to accept the war. Joetta believes the war will have little impact on the family. After receiving his food, Rudean leaves for his cabin, leaving Joetta, Ennis, and the boys alone. Ennis takes his father to Whitakers, and Joetta enjoys the peace of managing the farm without her father-in-law’s presence.