Joyce's mother, Ruth, right at or past middle age, announces her surprise pregnancy at Sunday dinner; everyone goes silent. When Joyce takes her first look at the baby, she says, "She's different." At age 20, Joyce finds that she is doing all the work of caring for the baby while her mother seems distant, just staring at nothing. Joyce's father and Ruth's husband, Caleb is gone and on the road. He avoids talking as men are known to do. But Uncle Theo visits and drops a bomb saying about the new baby, Eden-- "That ain't his baby, you know that."
As she grows up it shows that Eden is different, she has golden-brown eyes where everyone else in the family has dark eyes. And dark skin for that matter.
Set in the south, this story is real, well written, and entertaining. A very satisfying read.