The Keepers of the House

Summary

Entrenched on the same land since the early 1800s, the Howlands have for seven generations been pillars of their Southern community. Extraordinary family lore has been passed down to Abigail—the last remaining member of the esteemed family and the last keeper of the house—but not all of it.

When shocking facts come to light about the late William Howland’s secret marriage to his black housekeeper, the community quickly gathers to vent its outrage upon Abigail and the Howland house itself.

Shaken but defiant, Abigail—compelled to go back through the family history in order to understand herself, her father, and the South—will now, in the name of all her brothers and sisters, take her bitter revenge on the small-minded Southern town that has shamed them and persecuted them but will never destroy them.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1965, The Keepers of the House is Shirley Ann Grau’s masterwork, a many-layered indictment of racism and rage that is as terrifying as it is wise. Morally intricate, graceful and suspenseful, it has become a modern classic.