Summary

Part One: Bridge Music opens with a chapter narrated by Roy. Roy is from Eloe, Louisiana while his wife, Celestial is from a wealthy family in Atlanta. He notes that his family—which consists of him, his mother Olive, and Big Roy—was not poor. He attended Morehouse College, a historically black private university in Atlanta. He describes Celestial as “the perfect balance in a woman, not a button-down corporate type, but she wore her pedigree like the gloss on a patent-leather shoe” (8). Roy remembers how, after a year of marriage, they began discussing having a baby.

Roy describes how they went to Eloe to spend Labor Day weekend with his parents. He recalls Celestial in the car saying that she was nervous and had a bad feeling about the visit. Celestial suggested they turn back, but...