Getting Mother's Body written by Suzan Lori- Parks

reviewed by Lenny Ocasio

In Getting Mother’s Body, Suzan-Lori Parks’ debut novel, she introduces the readers to the Beede family. The Beede family is cursed with bad luck. Teenage Billy is pregnant and unwed. The father of her baby is married. Billy’s uncle, , is a burnt-out preacher who works at a gas station. His wife, June Flowers Beede, is in sore need of a prosthetic leg. 

When Billy thinks of solving her problems by digging up her mother, Willa Mae, the whole family piles into a “borrowed” car. They travel to Willa Mae’s grave, each with their own plans for the jewelry buried with her. There’s just one big problem. Willa Mae’s former lover, Dill, is chasing after the Beedes in order to make sure that a secret buried with Willa Mae stays buried.