Amy Julia Becker NavPress, 240 pages Amy Julia Becker grew up in Edenton, North Carolina, a town whose racial divisions were prevalent to the point of being casual, assumed. Her childhood is recognizable. Her words are beautiful and utterly disarming. You can almost smell the magnolias of a hometown that Becker loves. Readers are captivated by the bonds of affection she has for Jan and other African-Americans who occupied places of honor in her early life even though they worked for her parents.