This collection of 21 stories is organized into five sections, each with from one to six stories loosely focused on a particular place/time and set of characters. The Blue Heron Lake stories follow a community of Latino workers who eventually attempt to make their town a sanctuary city. The Brandon Forsythe stories feature a talented African American man wrongfully imprisoned. Unemployable as an ex-con, he becomes a successful drug lord. The Carmichael stories feature two generations of Swedish immigrants in upstate New York, facing--or avoiding--the challenges which industrialization and automation create. The Snake stories, set in 1920s South Carolina, provide disturbing, unforgettable images of Jim Crow