Showing results for "The Assistant" in Coming of Age

"The dead can't hurt you. Only the living can." Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies - and to forget what is too painful to bear. Now a young freedwoman, she has returned south to New Orleans and earns her living as an embalmer, her steady hand and skillful incisions compensating for her white employer's shortcomings.

Elizabeth Jeffries met and fell for Scott Taylor while she was working as his assistant. Even though they had their ups and downs, they realized that they had something special between them that they wanted to pursue. When Scott Taylor finally realized he was in love Elizabeth, someone else came along to claim her, bringing with him a surprise that would shock both of them.