Patricia West Hays

The Witness Tree Patricia West Hays

While copying her mother's recipes, a woman recalls her childhood and adolescence in the 1940s and 1950s in a small Texas town, and re-lives the year that changed her life and the lives of those around her forever. This is a story about harmful family secrets and how it is possible to grow stronger through adversity by turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones. The story encompasses the shame and cultural bias associated with unwed pregnancies in the 1950s. It is the story of one girl's adolescence and the years that followed, and her journey to adulthood and acceptance.