WE ARE ALL WELCOME HERE by Elizabeth Berg

I did not enjoy this as much as I did Elizabeth Berg's earlier book, The Art of Mending. The author's note at the beginning explains that the book was inspired by a true story, and that put me off. I would have preferred this information to have been presented as an acknowledgment at the end. The story takes place in Tupelo in the 60's, and the discrimination and hardships that a woman paralyzed from polio experiences are told side-by-side with the civil rights struggles of the era. The woman's daughter, who was born while the mother was in an iron lung, tells the story from her fourteen-year-old point of view. The standout character, however, is Peacie, the no-nonsense African-American caregiver, who performs some of the motherly duties that the disabled mother is unable to. The Tupelo setting also foreshadows an Elvis intervention that makes for a tidy but unlikely ending.