One Summer in Savannah: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child death, illness, rape, and death by suicide.

Sara is the primary protagonist of the novel. It is her experience as a survivor of rape that drives the relationships, conflicts, and themes in the novel. Her identity has been shaped by her experience as a survivor and her role as a mother. Since she became pregnant as a result of a sexual assault, Sara’s relationship with her daughter, Alana, was initially challenging to her. She struggled to love her daughter, associating Alana’s existence with her trauma. Her solution to this struggle was to focus on protecting Alana from the violence that brought her into the world. Once she shifted her focus from the expectations of traditional motherhood to protection, she allowed herself to deeply love and commit to her daughter. Several times in the novel, Sara says that she doesn’t see any characteristics of herself in her daughter, which causes her significant inner conflict. Most of the novel’s primary conflicts are thus related to Sara’s inner struggle to heal from the trauma of the rape and the challenges it has caused her family.

At the beginning of the novel, Sara is fearful and guarded, always over-prepared and on edge in public situations.