Big Lies in a Small Town: A Novel

Incarcerated for her role in a tragic DUI accident that injured the other driver badly enough to need a wheelchair, Morgan Christopher receives a visit from two women who offer her a get-out-of-jail deal. Lisa Williams, the daughter of a recently deceased artist named Jesse Jameson Williams is accompanied by the executor of his will. The women inform Morgan that Jesse’s will stipulates that Morgan restore a Depression-era mural for display in Jesse’s new gallery. Furthermore, she must live in Edenton, North Carolina, in Lisa’s house, and the project must be completed in two months. She will be paid $50,000 for the work. Although she has no experience in art restoration, Morgan is desperate to get out of prison and accepts the offer.

Anna Dale is offered a commission from the federal government to paint a mural for the Edenton post office, and she visits the town to get a feel for the local culture. Born in New Jersey, she experiences considerable culture shock upon arriving in the South and seeing evidence of its Jim Crow laws. She is also reeling from the recent loss of her mother to suicide, but she vows to give this project her best effort.

Anna reminisces about her bond with her mother, a woman with mental illness whose manic “lively spells” were nevertheless a joyful time for Anna; she has fond memories of their spontaneous visits to museums or photography excursions through their neighborhood. Now, with her mother gone, she focuses on her project to distract her from her grief. She considers a mural commemorating the “Edenton Tea Party,” an 18th-century feminist protest against British imperialism.

Morgan walks out of prison with Lisa at her side. She is unsettled both by Lisa’s silent hostility and by the outside world in general. On the drive, Lisa provides a few more details of their arrangement and relays the history of the mural. The artist, Anna Dale, was never fully paid for her work because she had a mental breakdown before it was completed. The mural then became the property of Jesse, who made his wishes known before his death that the mural should be restored as a gift to the community. Lisa agrees to advance Morgan $4,000 for necessities—clothes, a phone, a laptop. They discuss Jesse’s upcoming gallery opening, and Morgan realizes that Lisa under pressure to fulfill her father’s wishes while simultaneously maintaining her real estate practice.

They arrive at Lisa’s house, a sprawling, renovated Victorian, and Lisa reads Morgan the part of her father’s will that lays out the details of Morgan’s employment. She shows Morgan her room and explains the conditions of her living situation (shared kitchen, upstairs is off-limits, no drug use). Morgan insists that drugs are not an issue and that she doesn’t touch alcohol anymore.

Anna eats breakfast in her hotel, acutely aware of the cultural differences; she concedes to wearing dresses instead of her usual pants, for example. After breakfast, she wanders through the town, observing a stark contrast between the depressed waterfront and the older, stately mansions of downtown. She then visits the post office, the site of her future mural, and meets the postmaster. He informs her that her work must meet the approval of the town’s “movers and shakers” (33). Because Anna is an outsider, he is skeptical of her ability to capture the town’s authenticity. He also warns her that she won the commission over a well-liked local artist, and that fact might cause resentment. Anna feels the pressure to produce exemplary work, but she resolves to “give this little town nothing to complain about” (35).

Lisa gives Morgan a tour of the unfinished gallery, a “contemporary structure” in a downtown filled with renovated, 19th-century storefronts. There, she meets the construction crew and the gallery curator. Together, they unroll the large canvas mural and are shocked by what they see.