Entering Ephesus

Winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award: A humorous and unparalleled account of the lives of three young sisters during the Great Depression.

It is 1939 and life has changed drastically for the Bishop family. After losing their money and being forced to abandon their lovely seaside home in Connecticut, they move to the all-black Southern town of Ephesus. Patriarch P. Q. (which might stand for Peculiar) is a dreamer whose failed attempts at various schemes have landed the Bishops in a squalid shack that never stays warm and collects soot like a dustbin. And Mrs. Bishop is having an impossible time adjusting to their less than aristocratic conditions. But adolescent daughters Irene, Urie, and the zany Loco Poco—with their eccentric personalities and clothes made from tablecloths—won’t let anything stop them from taking on the world.

Little Women meets The Grapes of Wrath, Daphne Athas’s award-winning novel has been hailed by critics and named one of the best books of the year by Time magazine. Entering Ephesus is a glorious and unforgettable story of life during the Great Depression through the eyes of three young, vivacious women.