The Fervent Whites

Sylvia Upshaw and her best friend, Lafayette “Fate” Jolly, as well as the whole community of Fervent, a small town in Upstate New York, have just begun to move on from a homicide that upended their once quiet town when their former neighbors, James and Ella White, are proven innocent of murder, released from prison, and return to Fervent.

Sylvia and Fate anxiously learn to coexist with their neighbors even as burgeoning tensions mount and truths threaten to become exposed. While the Whites were incarcerated, Sylvia revealed an explosive secret to their son, and during the trial, Fate’s testimony helped seal their conviction.

The Whites won’t let the betrayals go unpunished—Sylvia and Fate quickly become victims of harassment. When another murder is committed in Fervent, the town is left to fend for itself.

Intimate and chilling, The Fervent Whites examines how small communities with long-simmering tensions behave when pushed to the limits of civility.