It's 1923 in Midland, Texas, and 19-year-old Dara falls in love with her best friend, who happens to be a girl. Terrified by this unusual attraction, Dara takes a job at Sugar Land Prison for men, hoping to keep her secret attractions under lock and key. There she meets soon-to-be-legendary blues singer Lead Belly, who sings his way to a pardon from the Governor (true story)--but only after he makes Dara promise to follow his lead. So when the Warden asks for her hand in marriage, Dara keeps her promise and leaves Sugar Land Prison as his wife and step-mother to his two girls. Life outside, however, isn't all sweet tea and roses, and Dara finds herself on a journey to accept the secret she's been carrying. Sugar Land is a triumphant, southern novel about the heart's refusal to be denied what the heart wants.