Mary in Color

Mary Lunsford, a widow, lives quietly in the small town neighborhood where she grew up. Her life is centered in women. Her mother, also a widow, lives in the family home down the block in one direction, and her eldest, and pregnant, daughter lives just around the corner in the opposite direction. Two more grown daughters live at home, but are preparing to go away to school and into their own lives in the world. Mary is about to be alone and on her own for the first time in her life. She is far more ready to be on her own than the women of her life are ready to allow her.

Mary’s first indication of restlessness is to decide to make a small change--just a bit of color added to the rooms of her house. She has no idea that with this change of color her entire world will change, as will the lives of the women around her, because it brings to all their lives a colorful man. Jim Pettijohn comes into this household of women with his cans of paint, charming smile, and sunshine in his pockets. He soon sweeps Mary off her feet and causes the other women to get up in arms.

This is the story of a woman’s awakening: to the inevitability of change, to unbounded possibilities and choices, and to the colorful vistas of her heart.