A Novel

 

Luella Greene spent the bulk of her childhood passed amongst relatives. Growing up in a small northeast Georgia town in the 1920s, she is forced to navigate the trepid terrain of racism, poverty, and loss as the Reconstruction era ends, giving rise to the Great Depression. As she embarks on a search for her long-lost mother, she comes face-to-face with demons that have haunted her and her family for years. As she discovers facts about her family's history, she uncovers triumphs and failures experienced along the way on her family's quest for opportunity, self-fulfillment, and the pursuit of the American dream. This journey takes her on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, ushering her into the life changing sphere of acceptance and reconciliation, followed by an unexpected tragedy that halts this journey prematurely. Growing Wild is a coming-of-age story about a young woman braving the pains of abandonment, family secrets, and betrayal as she searches for the mother she's never known. It showcases the impact of neglected wounds and the imprint they can leave for generations to come. But even more, it conveys the tenacity of the human spirit and the value endowed to us all despite our past or current failures.