Mattie Rigsbee is the main character in Clyde Edgerton's southern style novel, . Mattie is a seventy-eight year old widow with two middle-aged children. Living alone in a small house, she makes sure that everything is taken care of. Although begins to display some signs of aging, and her family is trying to convince her to slow down her lifestyle, Mattie's character and mind setting prohibits her from becoming the stereotypical elder. She must make a decision in which direction to turn. "I'm too old to keep a dog," she says to the dogcatcher ....