This novella is set in a dreary Southern mill town. Miss Amelia Evans, a tall, strong and independent woman, runs the general store. The arrival of a hunchbacked stranger, Cousin Lymon, changes her life and turns her store into a lively café that draws the community together. A triangle of love and rivalry soon forms when her former husband returns. Told in a spare, fable-like voice, the story treats love as something one-sided and often painful. This edition carries the Dutch title of the work.