Located in the slums of Columbia, South Carolina, the Red Star Grocery is one of the region's last small, credit grocery stores. It battles for survival in a time when people are not yet concerned with political correctness. The family-run business survives mill strikes and the great racial upheaval of the 60's, only to be displaced through the Law of Eminent Domain.

Beginning in the depression years, the plot follows the maturing of two farmers' children from their earliest memories to their first big-city jobs. Here they meet, court, and begin to build a family and a business. Together, they become enmeshed with the lives of their customers in a shared struggle to survive. Along the way, Mr. and Mrs. Red encounter failed vacations, untrained horses, hungry bears, Christmas pageants and the dark undercurrents of the social mores of the times.

This story is based on the memories of the author and on her family's time-honored stories. It tells of working-class life in the soon-to-be integrated communities of the state's capital. The child's innocent perspective of growing up between the worlds of white and black, rich and poor, in the Deep South transforms this collection of parables into a story of love - practical and pragmatic - that transcends the barriers of race and social class. The many forms of religion in the Bible Belt color the child's perceptions and influences every aspect of the lives around her.

Told with humor and pathos, the medley of tales of My Father's World tell of a world now forgotten: where businessmen were the source of social services and the needs of those served took precedence over the demands of the bottom line.