His father was a sharecropper in Arkansas and a farm laborer in California. He worked as a farmhand and sharecropper into the 1920s. For example, a landowner may have a sharecropper farming an irrigated hayfield. His mother was a teenage orphan making a living as a sharecropper. His father, a sharecropper, played the fiddle, while his mother played guitar. The novel explores the life of Grange Copeland, an abusive, irresponsible sharecropper, husband and father. Hezekiah worked as a cotton sharecropper to generate income for his family. A black sharecropper on the family land named C. J. Allen taught Rich blues piano. Thomas was born in the rural community of Cayce, Mississippi, the son of a sharecropper. Wright was a sharecropper and part-time minister who was often called "Preacher". Riley was born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, the son of a sharecropper. Born on a farm near Memphis, Tennessee, Taylor was the daughter of a sharecropper. Wilson was born the son of a sharecropper in Louisiana. Forbes was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a sharecropper. Reuben Long was originally a Winn Parish sharecropper.