New York: Delacorte, (1969) dj. Hardcover first edition - Powerful first novel by this African American writer. Set in a fishing village on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the early 1930s, this novel tells the story of Mariah Upshur, the wife of a poor oysterman, and her struggles to keep her land and family together amidst the harsh realities of rural life. ISBN: 0-935312-676.