Summary

1. First-person narrator Lillian introduces the “queer inbred strain” of her mother’s family, the H clan (149). They are black, but their pale skin is preserved by inbreeding. The H clan disapprove of Lillian’s father, Josh, because he is darker-skinned and has made his living in the mortuary business. Despite Lillian’s darker skin, Rosie—the matriarch of the H clan—claims her. Rosie blames Josh for the death of her daughter, also named Lillian but called throughout the story Lillie or “dead Lillie” (150). The H clan claims that Josh’s business and his lower social status are responsible for Lillie’s death.

2. Josh tells Lillian stories about the H clan and his early courtship of Lillie. He remembers his first elaborate dinner at the house, which Rosie had cooked. Uncle Justin said a prayer addressed to the labor of...