”​Me and the river and no one else seeing or listening. I catch its song at the edge of the day, rose light of dawn, blue light of dusk.​”

Aiyana’s voice chronicles her secret pursuit of literacy – her only means of escape from the abuse of her father and from the man to whom she is casually given. Her grandmother, an archetypal figure steeped in wisdom and folk lore and her brother Lyle are her only allies as she makes plans to leave the river she knows and loves.