At age forty-eight-the same age as Giles at the writing of the novel-Katie Rogers recalls her first visit alone to her grandparents' home in Stanwick, Arkansas. Eight-year-old Katie spends her summer climbing the huge mulberry tree and walking with her wise grandfather, a veteran of bloody Shiloh. She is fascinated, not frightened, by the grave of an unknown child in the nearby plum thicket. | The Plum Thicket by Janice Holt Giles, Paperback | Indigo Chapters