The Keepers of the House is a 1964 novel by Shirley Ann Grau set in rural Alabama. It covers seven generations of the Howland family that lived in the same house and developed a community around themselves. As such, it is a metaphor for the long-established families of the Deep South of the United States, their encounter with changing values and norms, and the hypocrisy of racism. In 1965, The Keepers of the House was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Plot summary The first William Howland served in New Orleans and the South during the War of 1812. While returning home to Tennessee, he decided to settle in Mississippi Territory (now Alabama and Mississippi), overlooking a small river. He was later killed in a raid by Indians, likely Creek. Since then, a descendant of William Howland, most often a male named William, has lived in the house with his family and dominated affairs in Madison City and Wade County, which developed around Howland's original settlement. The fifth William Howland was the last man bearing the name to live in the house. His wife died young, leaving him with a young daughter, Abigail, and an infant son, William, who died a year after his mother. Abigail married an English professor who abandoned her with a child, also named Abigail, when he went off to fight in World War II. When she died, William Howland was left to take care of his granddaughter Abigail. He also brought Margaret, a new African-American housekeeper, to the house to live with him. Throughout the county, she was known as his mistress and the mother of his other children. What no one knew, however, was that William had secretly married Margaret to ensure that the children were legitimate. Once their children came of age, William Howland and Margaret sent them north so that they could pursue lives as Whites. The secret of the marriage came out only after the younger Abigail was married to John Tolliver, an up-and-coming politician, who was running for governor. In the turbulent racist atmosphere of the South, Tolliver aligned himself with the Klan and made racist statements against Blacks. This infuriated Robert Howland, the eldest son of William and Margaret, who was living in obscurity in Seattle. He released the story of his origins to the press, crippling Tolliver's campaign. Tolliver, who regarded Abigail as a trophy wife, declared that