The Queen of Palmyra

The Queen Of Palmyra, a 2010 coming-of-age novel by Minrose Gwin, follows ten-year-old Florence Forest as she grows up in 1960s Mississippi during an era of racism, segregation, and dark family secrets that challenge her conception of right and wrong.

As the novel opens, it is the summer of 1963 in Millwood, Mississippi. Ten-year-old Florence takes it as a point of pride that whenever the phone rings, her father entrusts her with the task of fetching his box. Although she has no idea what the contents of the box are, she is certain that it is important. Aside from fetching the box for her father, Florence helps her mother in the kitchen with her baking, or her grandmother's maid, Zenie, with the sewing and ironing.

Florence does not have many friends her own age because her family has moved around a lot. She is also at least a year behind in school. In the first few weeks of that summer, Florence starts to notice some strange occurrences at home. She realizes that her mother has started drinking more and that her father is spending more and more time outside the house. Although she picks up on the tension, she is not yet aware of its source: Florence’s parents have vastly different ideas about the way in which African Americans should be treated. Her father, the Nighthawk for the KKK, is doing all he can to keep blacks out his neighborhood, while her mother, an integration supporter, does all she can to warn her neighbors of the Klan's attack plans.



A few weeks into the summer, Zenie's niece Eva arrives in town, hoping to sell life insurance policies to the African Americans in Millwood. Florence's father is the main insurance salesman in town, but she does not mind, hoping to engage his black customers through her services. Although Florence’s father is clearly a racist, he still allows Florence to spend time in the black neighborhood, Shake Rag, while he is at work. As she continues to spend time there, Florence falls in love with the warm and welcoming people. She sometimes fantasizes about being a part of their families instead of her own.

As the summer passes, life at home becomes increasingly difficult as Florence's mother begins to drink heavily, as her father grows increasingly violent and abusive. With her parents so caught up in their own problems, Florence is left to fend for herself with occasional help from Zenie. One afternoon, Zenie and Florence make a horrific discovery: Eva has been attacked in the cemetery near their home, and someone has branded her face with a cigarette butt. Rather than return home to Raleigh as many Shake Rag residents encourage Eva to do, she remains in Millwood to help fight for civil rights. This attack is a turning point in Florence's life. For the first time, someone she loves is affected by racism; however, Florence does not yet know that her father is the culprit. After Eva's attack, Mama slips further and further into her depression and alcoholism, eventually driving her car into the side of an oncoming train. Miraculously, she survives but is sent to an insane asylum for shock therapy.

The summer wears on, and Florence learns more about the KKK. She continues to help her mother in the kitchen baking cakes, until one day when she accidentally starts a house fire. Her father brands her wrists with his cigarette lighter to teach her a lesson. Florence’s mother returns for a few days but runs away again, leaving Florence behind. By the end of the summer, Florence has greatly matured. She now understands that Daddy's racist behavior isn't normal, that not all families act this way, and that Mama is a disturbed woman who failed her as a mother. All of these realizations come to a boiling point when Florence stumbles upon her father in the process of murdering Eva. At the time, Florence isn't sure what she saw, but as an adult, all the pieces come together in her mind.



After the murder, Florence’s father threatens to kill her if she ever reveals the truth. With this final straw, Florence runs away from her childhood home and heads off to New Orleans with Mimi. Florence spends the rest of her life in Louisiana with Mimi, and her mother eventually joins them. Before Hurricane Katrina hits, Florence realizes that she witnessed her father kill Eva; she finally musters up the courage to confront him about it. Before the storm hits, Florence gets in her car, with the intention of sacrificing her life to the storm. At the last moment, she jerks her steering wheel to the left, and the car swerves to safety.