

Getting Mother's Body
Book • 2003
Getting Mother's Body is Suzan-Lori Parks's debut novel, published in 2003.
It follows Billy Beede, a pregnant teenager in 1960s Texas, as she navigates her complicated life and family dynamics.
The story is a reimagining of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, set in an African American context.
Billy's journey involves exhuming her mother's body, rumored to be buried with valuable jewels, accompanied by a cast of eccentric characters each with their own motivations.
It follows Billy Beede, a pregnant teenager in 1960s Texas, as she navigates her complicated life and family dynamics.
The story is a reimagining of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, set in an African American context.
Billy's journey involves exhuming her mother's body, rumored to be buried with valuable jewels, accompanied by a cast of eccentric characters each with their own motivations.