“Filled with the sights, sounds, and flavors of Mississippi, Cushman’s story opens a heartfelt and authentic window not only into two lives, but into the South then and now.”
—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times Bestselling author
“Set against the backdrop of the University of Mississippi in the mid-1960s, this clear-eyed book confronts the historical and social realities of those times and the once perilous nature of interracial intimacy.”
—Ralph Eubanks, author of Ever Is a Long Time and A Place Like Mississippi
“Susan Cushman has captured the heart and soul of the Old and New South with her powerful literary saga. Spanning five decades of two star-crossed lovers’ courageous and perilous journeys in Mississippi and Memphis, John and Mary Margaret conveys the power of love to overcome historical racial injustice. I can’t stop thinking about it!”
Lisa Patton, bestselling author of Rush and Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter
About the Book
John and Mary Margaret is a rare insider’s look into the white privilege bubble of a young girl growing up in Jackson, Mississippi and participating in sorority life on the Ole Miss campus in the late 1960s. But it’s also a candid portrayal of a young Black boy from Memphis who follows his dream to study law at the predominantly white university.
What happens when their shared love for literature blossoms into an ill-fated romance? Spanning five decades of historical civil rights events in Mississippi and Memphis, John and Mary Margaret’s story will challenge the status quo and give us another opportunity to examine our history and our hearts.