If the Creek Don't Rise - Paperback

by Rita Williams (Author)

When Rita Williams was four, her mother died in a Denver boarding house. This death delivered Rita into the care of her aunt Daisy, a headstrong woman who had married the most prominent black landowner in Nebraska and spirited her sharecropping family out of the lynching South. They reinvented themselves as ranch hands and hunting guides out West. But one by one they slipped away, to death or to an easier existence elsewhere, leaving Rita as Daisy's last hope to right the racial wrongs of the past and to make good on a lifetime of thwarted ambition.

If the Creek Don't Rise tells how Rita found her way out from under this crippling legacy and, instead of becoming "a perfect credit to her race," discovered how to become herself. Set amid the harsh splendor of the Colorado Rockies, this is a gorgeous, ruthless, and unique account of the lies families live--and the moments of truth and beauty that save us.

Front Jacket

When Rita Williams was four, her mother died in a Denver boarding house. This death delivered Rita into the care of her aunt Daisy, the last surviving African American widow of a Union soldier and a maverick who had spirited her sharecropping family out of the lynching South and reinvented them as ranch hands and hunting guides out West. But one by one they slipped away, to death or to an easier existence elsewhere, leaving Rita as Daisy s last hope to right the racial wrongs of the past and to make good on a lifetime of thwarted ambition. If the Creek Don t Rise tells how Rita found her way out from under this crippling legacy and, instead of becoming "a perfect credit to her race," discovered how to become herself.
Set amid the harsh splendor of the Colorado Rockies, this is a gorgeous, ruthless, and unique account of the lies families live-and the moments of truth and beauty that save us.
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Back Jacket

A remarkable memoir . . .Every page allows me to live in her thoughts and marvel at how all of us who grew up poor and female are bonded, regardless of where we were raised or who raised us.--Oprah Winfrey, O, The OprahMagazine

"Part adventure story, part painful memoir, fresh, fierce, and funny as hell. You'll cheer for Rita Williams!" E. Lynn Harris, author of Not a Day Goes By, Any Way the Wind Blows, and I Say a Little Prayer When Rita Williams was four, her mother died in a Denver boarding house. This death delivered Williams to the care of her aunt Daisy, a headstrong woman who had married the most prominent black landowner in Nebraska and spirited her sharecropping family out of the lynching South.They reinvented themselves as ranch hands and hunting guides out West.But one by one they slipped away, leaving Rita as Daisy s last hope to right the racial wrongs of the past and make good on a lifetime of thwarted ambition.If the Creek Don't Risetells how Rita found her way out from under this crippling legacy and, instead of becoming a perfect credit to her race, discovered how to become herself."That Williams survived her rudderless youth is a testament to her resilience. That she could write about it with such unblinking forthrightness is admirable." San Francisco Chronicle"It takes a while to recover from this book, which is the most important tribute I can pay it." Los Angeles Times Book ReviewRita Williams lives in Los Angeles. She has been an actor, musician, professor, cook, gardener, recovery counselor, and radio announcer as well as a writer. Her previous work has appeared in LA Weekly and O, The Oprah Magazine. This is her first book."