Forgiving Effie Beck — Karen Casey Fitzjerrell

Forgiving Effie Beck, winner of the WILL ROGERS GOLD MEDALLION AWARD and the EPIC Award for Historical Fiction, examines the complicated issues of a social order that existed in small town America during the Great Depression. The backdrop for the story is a community both paralyzed and comforted by sameness and tradition. It is that attitude which sets the stage for deception and isolates some of the town's beloved citizens.
Mike LeMay, a Federal Writes' Project interviewer arrives in Cooperville, Texas a few days before the town eccentric, Effie Beck, is reported missing. While conduction interviews for his FWP work, Mike learns that the enigmatic, elderly Miss Effie, moved "like brown smoke" on the outer edges of community social circles. What happen to Effie that she'd walk out of her house and disappear? What secrets did she take with her? And, how will Cooperville cope when all the answers are found?
"Small wonder that the book already won the Will Rogers Gold Medallion. Stellar fiction about hard living during the Depression." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)