Jennifer Odom

Summer on the Black Suwannee Jennifer Odom

Welcome to Eearth Mother Acres, Where Shattered Lives are Healed

When 15-year-old Emily is nearly raped by her stepfather, her distraught but well-meaning mother Charlene arranges for them to spend the summer at Earth Mother Acres, a special, secluded, faith-based retreat for troubled girls nestled along the bucolic banks of the Black Suwannee River.

An anonymous sponsor even offered to pay the camp's $30,000 expense--provided Emily completes the program. I didn't even need to pray about it, Charlene reasoned. It must be God's will, since everything just fell into place.

But Emily and Charlene soon learn that Satan can assume a pleasing form, and not everything at Earth Mother Acres is as it appears. Charlene's car suddenly breaks down, the manicured grounds are marred by strange, unsettling smells, and Emily discovers a child's discarded clothing in the bottom of her cabin closet.

Emily's therapy is rigorous and demanding. Her schedule is tightly controlled, and her contact with the outside world is completely cut off. When she grows gradually sicker with each passing day, she begins to wonder if she will leave Earth Mother Acres alive.