Trip To Bountiful

Carrie Watt is the prototypical Southern woman. She begrudgingly lives with her busy, overprotective son, Ludie, and pretentious daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae. She needs them and they need her because neither of them can make ends meet without the other, but it is not a match made in heaven. She is no longer able to drive and forbidden to travel alone, but she wishes for freedom from the confines of the small cramped one bedroom house and begs her son to take her on a visit to her hometown of Bountiful. When he refuses, Mrs. Watts is undeterred and makes an escape to the local bus station, where she befriends Thelma, a young woman traveling home. When Ludie and Jessie Mae discover she is gone, they call in law enforcement to help, but Mrs. Watts is one step ahead of them and convinces the local sheriff to help her on her journey home to Bountiful. The underlying themes ring true in the 21st century, even though it was written in the last one--the idea of home as a place of safety and comfort runs strong in Mrs. Watts memory, but the reality is that the town is deserted and her house will soon collapse are the realities that she is confronted with when she finally gets her wish.