Journalist Sheldon Merrill is assigned to cover a farm fire which destroys one of northern New York's showplace farmsteads. Added to this loss is the discovery of a woman's body, not a victim of the fire but of a murderer. While the killer remains at large, Sheldon is intrigued by an eccentric young multi-millionaire and his dying sister, Lucille, who makes a shocking confession to her. Lucille pleads for her help to rectify a shattering lie she told her brother. When it appears that her life is finally back to normal, Sheldon opens her door to a knock . and finds herself face-to-face with the murderer.

Reporter Sheldon Merrill's plans for a relaxing three-day weekend are shattered early Friday morning when she awakens to the sound of sirens and the ringing of her telephone. Her newspaper editor tells her to cover the raging fire at a neighboring farm complex owned by friends who had been the subject of her first agricultural page story. The conflagration takes a devastating toll on the dairy herd, but soon a more grisly discovery is made: that of a woman's battered body. Murder and arson are terrifying news in the small city of Westburgh, New York.But the fatal fire scene is not the only intrigue Sheldon finds herself coping with on a weekend that gives her little peace of mind. Mystery surrounds both the handsome, eccentric benefactor David P. Bradford and his dying sister Lucille, who makes a shocking confession to Sheldon, accompanied by a plea for help. Just as it seems that life is settling down to normal, Sheldon opens her door to a knock...and faces the murderer.

Journalist Sheldon Merrill is assigned to cover a farm fire which destroys one of northern New York's showplace farmsteads. Added to this loss is the discovery of a woman's body, not a victim of the fire but of a murderer. While the killer remains at large, Sheldon is intrigued by an eccentric young multi-millionaire and his dying sister, Lucille, who makes a shocking confession to her. Lucille pleads for her help to rectify a shattering lie she told her brother. When it appears that her life is finally back to normal, Sheldon opens her door to a knock and finds herself face-to-face with the murderer.

Lucille is jealous of her little sister, Margaret.

With a powerful introduction by Ross Gay and a moving afterword by Sidney Clifton, this special anniversary edition of The Book of Light offers new meditations and insights on one of the most beloved voices of the 20th century. Though The Book of Light opens with thirty-nine names for light, we soon learn the most meaningful name is Lucille—daughter, mother, proud Black woman. Known for her ability to convey multitudes in few words, Clifton writes into the shadows—her father’s violations, a Black neighborhood bombed, death, loss—all while illuminating the full spectrum of human emotion: grief and celebration, anger and joy, empowerment and so much grace. A meeting place of myth and the Divine, The Book of Light exists “between starshine and clay” as Clifton’s personas allow us to bear the world’s weight with Atlas and witness conversations between Lucifer and God. While names and dates mark this text as a social commentary responding to her time, it is haunting how easily this collection serves as a political palimpsest of today. We leave these poems inspired—Clifton shows us Superman is not our hero. Our hero is the Black female narrator who decides to live. And what a life she creates! “Won’t you celebrate with me?”