A novel which won the National Book Award in America, about a fractious family in the Gulf of Mexico who await the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. A wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal and restrictive realities of rural poverty, from the author of "Where The Line Bleeds". '...A powerful depiction of grinding poverty, where somehow amid the deprivation, the flame of filial affection survives and a genuine spirit of community is able to triumph...' "Daily Mail"