Book Description

It is the mid-1990s in the Eastern Kentucky Appalachian Mountains. Candy Ratledge is a confident single woman with a sense of place and purpose. After becoming pregnant in high school and dropping out, she earned a G.E.D. and then attended community college to become a Certified Nurses' Aide. She has a stable job, her own trailer nestled in her kin's holler, her parents next door to keep her little boy, Emmett, and a handsome man pursuing her. Mr. Solomon is a cantankerous but wise homebound patient on Candy's caseload. He reminds her of her Papaw who passed away several years ago. With no friends or family left, Mr. Solomon's reliance on Candy draws them into a more familial relationship. Mr. Solomon has a storied past he keeps hidden from Candy, and when she discovers it, she feels disoriented and betrayed. Dean is a handsome outsider from Lexington who finds Candy attractive and refreshing. She initially does not trust him because he's from the big city and older than her. On their second date he confides in her that he's having doubts about his faith. As the story unfolds and the ground beneath them shifts, their individual struggles create a quick intimacy between Candy and Dean. Told in Candy's Appalachian vernacular with colloquialisms woven throughout, Where Your Treasure Lies explores themes of cultural norms and identity, betrayal, regional history, family conflict, faith, addiction, forgiveness, and what one truly needs to be content.