Big Lies in a Small Town: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide references a sexual assault and discusses suicide.

Everything in the narrative begins and ends with Anna; all the action, conflict, and mystery revolves around her narrative path. A young artist from New Jersey, Anna is awarded a commission to paint a mural for the Edenton, NC post office, and she soon finds herself in culture shock, surrounded by the confines of small-town expectations, racism, suspicion, and gossip. Anna’s willingness to placate the civic leaders and assimilate into her environment soon wins most of the townspeople over. However, her outward assimilation is tempered by her progressive, Northeastern sensibilities. She can’t understand the male civic leaders’ resistance to allowing the Tea Party (which showcases women’s protest against British imperialism) to form the centerpiece of the mural. She is dumbfounded by the town’s concern over her working side-by-side with a young Black man. She dismisses the salacious gossip that results, although Pauline cautions her not to be so blithe about it. Her stubbornness creates a blind spot, and she doesn’t see Martin’s assault coming despite his previous misdeeds, which include showing up at the warehouse inebriated and slapping his wife in public.