hearty breakfast of eggs, ham, biscuits, and the one cup of coffee his mother allows him, and at day's end he's rewarded with an evening on the front porch, where the family gathers around the radio to listen to Harry Caray announce the St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. A devoted fan, Luke is saving his hard-earned money to buy a team warm-up jacket he saw advertised in the Sears, Roebuck catalog. Saturday afternoons are spent in town, where the adults share idle gossip and serious concerns and the youngsters visit the movie house, while Sunday morning is reserved for church. A visiting carnival, the annual town picnic, and Luke's introduction to television – to see a live broadcast of a World Series game – are additional bits of local color scattered throughout the tale. A flood devastates the family's crop before the harvest is completed, and Luke's parents decide to travel to the city to find work in a Buick plant, breaking a history of generations working on the land. The novel ends with Luke's mother smiling on the bus, having finally gotten her wish to leave cotton farming. The book's title refers to the Chandler house, which never has been painted, a sign of their lower social status in the community. One day Luke discovers that someone has been secretly painting the weather-beaten clapboards white, and eventually he continues the job with the approval of his parents and the assistance of the Mexicans, contributing some of his own savings for the purchase of paint. Main characters Luke Chandler – the youngest in the family and the protagonist of the story. Eli "Pappy" Chandler – Luke's highly respected and hard-working grandfather and patriarch of the family. He is a World War I veteran. Ruth "Gran" Chandler – Luke's quiet, conservative, and wise grandmother who prays for the safe return of her younger son, Ricky, from the Korean War. Jesse Chandler – Luke's father, who served in World War II (during which he suffered a debilitating injury), and struggles to help his father erase the family's debt. Kathleen Chandler – Luke's mother, who tends to the garden while dreaming of a better life in a suburban home with indoor plumbing and modern conveniences. Hank Spruill – the 'hill people' family's oldest son, boastful and quick to offer violence to anyone who offends him. Tally Spruill – the seventeen-year-old daughter in the