The Old Frenchman Place

The Old Frenchman Place is a Mississippi plantation owned by Lee Goodwin. Goodwin is former military and a bootlegger. Ruby Lamar Goodwin, Lee's common law wife, also lives on the premises with the couple's small child. Other people live on the premises as well, although it is not always clear if the men are employees, drifters or hangers on. The men include Popeye, Van, Tommy, and Old Pap.

The house stands in the midst of black trees. "The house was a gutted ruin rising gaunt and stark out of a grove of unpruned cedar trees," (Chapter 1, p. 8) .

The Old Frenchman Place was built before the Civil War and is considered to be a landmark. The cotton fields, lawns and gardens had long ago gone to seed and resemble little more than a jungle. Neighbors forage through the jungle for firewood or anything else that...