A small New England community, The Narrows, is struggling to right itself after decades of abandonment and racial strife - and Link Williams, a smart, black kid freshly graduated from university, just might be able to escape. Leaving The Narrows proves to be the easy part, as the love Link shares with Camilo Sheffield sets into motion the most unthinkable of acts and rocks their worlds in ways that neither of them could ever have imagined. Ann Petry evokes a bustling, vibrant community fighting against the complex racial dynamics of the 1950s.