A magical novel of women's wisdom passed down through generations of storytelling.

Fred Chappell has written a novel of lyrical grace, rich with the music of the Southern mountains and the stories of their people. Jess Kirkman's grandmother is dying, and as her family gathers around her, Jess remembers the tales she and his mother have passed down to him. We meet the "Fisherwoman," the "Traveling Woman," the "Feistiest Woman," the "Silent Woman," the "Wind Woman," and others, in a range of ghost to detective to comic to love stories. In preparing Jess to come of age, these stories assemble a chorus of women's voices that sing and share and celebrate the common song of life.