Paradise (published in 1997) tells the story of the growing tensions of the all-black town of Ruby, Oklahoma, and the nearby mansion turned Convent turned women's shelter. Both groups have been battered by the hardships of the world, and each seek a vision of Paradise or perfection, where they can be happy, free, and prosperous. However, their two visions of it turn out to be incompatible, when a posse of Ruby men decide that the growing unrest in their own town is because of the 'evil' going on at the Convent. The women become the objects of a contemporary witch hunt, the men believing that they have powers and are using them for evil.
Ruby was founded by nine "8-rock" families -...
