Big Lies in a Small Town: A Novel

On her way to the gallery, Morgan passes a car accident. The sight of an injured victim on a stretcher triggers memories of her own accident, and by the time she reaches the gallery, she is deeply unsettled. She tells Oliver the full story, and he is livid to learn that she took the blame for Trey. He also believes that the trauma she shares with Anna makes Morgan the ideal candidate to restore the mural.

Anna learns that Jesse has been skipping school and is failing nearly every subject, except art. She fears that his grades will jeopardize any future art career. She implores him to finish school, but she also realizes that, as a young Black man, his prospects for being accepted to art school are slim. She offers to speak to his parents, and Jesse invites her to dinner.

Morgan puzzles over what color to use in a particular portion of the mural, and Oliver lends his expertise. She feels that she may be falling in love with him. When she returns home that night, she finds Jesse’s National Medal of Arts hanging in the hallway. The date of its presentation is August 5, the same day as the proposed opening of the gallery. Morgan believes that the medal should also hang in the gallery, and she realizes that this “job” means more to her than a reprieve from prison.

Anna joins Jesse’s family for dinner and meets his eight-year-old sister, Nellie. Several days earlier, Riley Wayman published a letter to the editor in the local paper, castigating Anna for allowing his daughter to work alongside a young Black man in a “seedy, decrepit” warehouse. Anna hopes that Jesse’s family has not seen the article. Over dinner, Anna perceives that Jesse’s Aunt Jewel is the most educated and worldly member of the family; she wonders if Jewel, more than the others, will understand the importance of nurturing Jesse’s creative talent. When the topic turns to Jesse, Anna becomes sadly aware of the risk that Jesse is taking just by working in close proximity to a white woman.

After dinner, Anna mentions art school, but Jesse’s father insists that he is needed on the farm, and that art school is “some mighty high thinkin’ for a farm boy” (210). In the end, his parents will allow him to finish the mural project, but that will be the end of his artistic aspirations.

Oliver confides in Morgan that he feels he’s losing his son to his ex-wife’s new husband, who “makes about ten times what [he] make[s]” (214). Morgan finds his vulnerability attractive. She then tells Oliver about her own traumatic childhood, and about her parents, who had an alcohol addiction and “never told [her] they loved [her] […] Not ever. Not once” (215).

Jesse, Peter, Martin, and Pauline’s husband, Karl, help Anna to stretch the canvas over its wood frame. Anna notices some tension between Martin and Karl, a police officer, who notes that he and Martin have met “a time or two” (218). Suddenly, Martin’s wife bursts into the warehouse, accusing her husband of carrying on an affair with Anna. The fight turns physical until Karl intervenes and sends them both home. Anna imagines that it must be difficult for Martin to lose out to a woman, and she empathizes with his anger.

After a long day, Morgan decides to join Oliver and his crew for a bite at a local pub. She feels confident that she can resist the temptation to drink, and the ankle monitor is an added incentive to refrain. While they eat, a bar fight breaks out, and Morgan, trying to avoid the fracas, falls and twists her ankle. She and Oliver leave the pub, but she can’t walk back to the gallery on her bad ankle. As Oliver fetches his van, Morgan fears that she is falling in love with Oliver, especially in light of her last relationship.

The Section of Fine Arts approves Anna’s sketch—the final step—and remits the second installment of her fee. After “pouncing” the sketch onto the canvas—leaving a charcoal outline as a painting guide—she dismisses Peter and Jesse. Soon, she will start the actual painting. She feels “content” with her progress and the apparent acceptance of most of the townsfolk, but several days later, she finds a racist epithet painted on the warehouse. She sees Peter riding up the road, but then he abruptly turns around and heads back to town. Jesse arrives, sees the vandalism, and wonders if he should have stayed on the farm. For the first time, Anna wonders if they are both safe. A short time later, however, Peter returns with Mr. Arndt, the Postmaster, and together they paint over the epithet. Arndt assures her, “This ain’t the real Edenton, Miss Dale” (231). However, despite the many good people that Anna has met, the memory of the vandalism and its hateful message hangs in the air for the rest of the day.