The chatter at the Curly Q beauty shop is about who'll be first to get a new blue Foodarama refrigerator from Sears in their small town of Spark, Tennessee, but Posey Jarvis and her daughter Callie Jane find themselves facing a crisis--one that will change both their lives forever.
Thirty-eight-year-old Posey Jarvis is the self-appointed "Empress" of rural Spark, in Cooke County, Tennessee. She spends her days sneaking nips of gin, following every word about her idol and look-alike, Jackie Kennedy, and avoiding her stalwart husband, Vern. She is also struggling to control her newly defiant daughter, Callie Jane, who finds herself accidentally engaged to Trace Humboldt. When Posey unexpectedly inherits a derelict mansion from her quirky old Aunt Milbrey, she finagles her way into hosting her high school's twentieth reunion there. Possums are nesting in the parlor and the stench of cat urine permeates the sunroom, but she must be ready for the big day, so she needs to work fast. She cares nothing about seeing her classmates, but she cares deeply about seeing the love of her life, a man who dumped her twenty years ago.
Callie Jane has had enough of her mother and working her boring job at Jarvis Emporium, a junk shop owned by her father. She breaks her engagement, moves out of her parents' house, and sets her sights on moving to California. Her domineering mother, stultifying future, and even the creepy peeping Tom terrorizing the town will be in her rearview. But then a shocking act of violence changes everything, and Callie Jane must determine how far she will go to save someone she loves.
Set in a gossipy small town during the turbulent 1960s, and full of Southern charm and unforgettable characters, The Empress of Cooke County is a novel about found family, what it means to be loved, and how being true to yourself can have life-altering consequences.