Publication Date: October 25, 2022
From the award-winning author of All Her Little Secrets comes yet another gripping, suspenseful novel where, after the murder of a white man in Jim Crow Mississippi, two Black sisters run away to different parts of the country . . . but can they escape the secrets they left behind?
It’s the summer of 1964 and three innocent men are brutally murdered for trying to help Black Mississippians secure the right to vote. Against this backdrop, twenty-one year old Violet Richards finds herself in more trouble than she’s ever been in her life. Suffering a brutal attack of her own, she kills the man responsible. But with the color of Violet’s skin, there is no way she can escape Jim Crow justice in Jackson, Mississippi. Before anyone can find the body or finger her as the killer, she decides to run. With the help of her white beau, Violet escapes. But desperation and fear leads her to hide out in the small rural town of Chillicothe, Georgia, unaware that danger may be closer than she thinks.
Back in Jackson, Marigold, Violet’s older sister, has dreams of attending law school. Working for the Mississippi Summer Project, she has been trying to use her smarts to further the cause of the Black vote. But Marigold is in a different kind of trouble: she’s pregnant and unmarried. After news of the murder brings the police to her door, Marigold sees no choice but to flee Jackson too. She heads North seeking the promise of a better life and no more segregation. But has she made a terrible choice that threatens her life and that of her unborn child?
Two sisters on the run—one from the law, the other from social shame. What they don’t realize is that there’s a man hot on their trail. This man has his own brand of dark secrets and a disturbing motive for finding the sisters that is unknown to everyone but him . . .
In spite of federal laws, not much had changed in Mississippi in July 1964. If you had dark-colored skin, you were forced to follow a different set of rules than your light-skinned counterparts.
Author Wanda M. Morris uses Jackson, Mississippi, as the setting for her novel, Anywhere You Run, which tells the story of two sisters. When Violet decides to mete out her own justice to the white man who raped her, she has no choice but to run. Her older sister Marigold, known as the responsible one, finds herself in some trouble of her own. Her decision to marry a persistent suitor and leave town only adds to her problems.
However, Violet uses the affections of a white man named Dewey Leonard to get out of town. With plenty of money at his disposal, he will do whatever it takes to find Violet.
Told in alternating perspectives, the story follows the two sisters on their individual journeys before reuniting them. The author provides a true sense of the time period as the characters interact with those around them.
Overall, the storyline contains a mixture of themes ranging from social justice to sibling relationships, all of which combine for a satisfying read. Anywhere You Run provides a powerful message about race relations during a tumultuous time in our nation’s history.
Wanda M. Morris is a corporate attorney, having worked in the legal departments of some of America’s top Fortune 100 companies. As an accomplished presenter and leader, she previously served as President of the Georgia Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, in which she established a signature female empowerment program known as the Women’s Initiative.
Wanda M. Morris is an alumni of the Yale Writers Workshop and a Claymore Award finalist for mystery writing. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She is married, the mother of three, and she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
