In Her Presence: A Husband's Dirty Secret

The surreal, gripping saga of a young, desperate,
rich Negro mother and her children, and her courageous
teenage daughter in the south in the 1950s is inspired by
real life events.
Maebelle Hawkins, a young, pretty, divorcee,
moves to Derriene Crossing with her heart set on finding
the perfect husband. When Rufus Poygoode, a well-to-do,
good-looking farmer enraptures her heart with a proposal
of marriage, she feels her life has come full circle.
But it is a marriage awash in deception. A few
weeks after their union, her fantasy world crashes and
burns. She shivers when Rufus Poygoode places the cold
black metal gun against her nose and calls her Olga
Berry, the name of his surrogate mother, for whom he
carries a vendetta. No amount of defense convinces him
she is not the estranged daughter of his surrogate
mother. Crushed by cruel and unusual hatred, Maebelle
Hawkins resigns herself to a mere state of simply
existing. Then their daughter Tara Poygoode grows up.
Tara Poygoode is pleased that she has her mother
and father’s good looks. But she hates him for the
humiliation, cruelty, and power he wields over her large
family. When she learns that her father won’t allow her
to attend college, that he is intent on tying her life to the
land forever, she vows to take control over her destiny,
and rescue her family