Annie is the 70-year-old wife of Edwin Coles, a wealthy plantation owner. She spent her girlhood in Charleston and still loves the city. Not content to remain idle, Annie starts a garment factory with the help of her son and builds it into a thriving business. Annie’s main shortcoming is her denial of her husband’s sexual abuse of their children. As a result, Annie is estranged from her two daughters but longs to reconnect with them.

When she discovers evidence of her husband’s crimes, Annie is so ashamed of her failure as a parent that she tries starving herself to death. She only relents when one of her sons reminds her that she is still needed. By the end of the novel, Annie risks her own life to expose her husband’s pedophilia to the entire community. After Gertrude kills Annie’s husband, Annie is free to return to her daughters in Charleston, though she still regrets the mistakes of her past.

Edwin is the wealthiest plantation owner in the town of Branchville. To all appearances, he is a model citizen. Annie is his wife, and he has four surviving children. His eldest son, Buck, hanged himself when he was 12. Edwin’s two daughters blame him for the