Straddling the Mason-Dixon Line since before the Civil War
is Runnymede. And it seems that ever since then, most
people in the town have been inherently split: between
good and bad, or love and sex, or male and female, or
politics and sobriety. Nicole ("Nickel") Smith is in such
a dilemma herself--here she is, an avowed lesbian, having
an affair that would shock Runnymede as much as it shocks
Nickel herself. And her work seems to be going to the
dogs, too, when the beloved newspaper where she is an
editor is put up for sale. Thank goodness the weekly
bingo games still go on, though Nickel is a little weary
of playing referee there for the flamboyant Hunsenmeir
sisters, Louise and Julia. Nickel's momma, who is now
pushing ninety but clawing like cats over handsome
newcomer Ed Tutweiler Walters. A parade of townsfolk and
kin weave their colorful way through the trials,
tribulations, and ultimate triumphs of our heroines, in
this spirited novel of the South that appeals as much to
the funny bone as to the heart.