White Lilacs

Content Warning: The novel contains racist language, including racial expletives, and depicts racial violence. Some of that language is replicated in this guide when directly quoting the source text, but the author’s use of racial expletives is obscured.

In Freedomtown, Texas, in 1921, 12-year-old Rose Lee examines the garden of her grandfather, Jim Williams. He refers to it as the “Garden of Eden” (2), and it is largely grown from trimmings taken from the garden of his employer, Mrs. Eunice Bell. Jim is particularly fond of his white lilacs, which he praises for their rarity and safeguards with a fence he built.

Rose Lee’s family works for the Bells, with Jim doing the gardening and her Aunt Tillie and cousin Cora working in the kitchen. Rose Lee discreetly helps in the garden or in the kitchen, until one day she is forced to serve food to Mrs. Bell’s Garden Club. She is nervous and struggles to understand her aunt’s directives, especially when she becomes distracted by the conversation the white women are having.

Freedomtown is part of Dillon, Texas, located within the town but referred to as “Freedom” by the people who live there. The people in Freedom are all Black, with their own school, churches, doctor, and more, and they largely stay out of the rest of Dillon except to work.