Childhood

The narrator of Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody (born Essie Mae) spends her first four years in a sharecropper's shack on a plantation owned by a white farmer. Her parents work long hours in the fields. Daddy begins gambling and takes up with another woman, and eventually he deserts the family. Mama and the children move off the plantation, closer to the town of Centreville. Mama supports the family through domestic and restaurant work but often does not earn enough money even for food.

By the time Anne is in the fourth grade, she works regularly after school and on weekends to help support her family. They move into a house that Mama's boyfriend, Raymond, builds for them. Eventually, Raymond and Mama marry, but Raymond is unable to provide for the ever-growing family. Despite working many hours to help support the family, Anne continues to...