The Matriarch, a novel about one woman who creates and holds a family together, brings to life the American South with memorable characters: Ellie Mae Aldridge, born of the Great Depression in rural Mississippi, her life takes shape to the values of love, honor, tolerance, respect and family; Caleb Thompson, a young boy from Ohio, comes into his manhood not in war, but in love; and Aaron Thompson, the grandson of Ellie Mae and Caleb, whose search for his own redemption is found in the unbreakable bonds of family.